Smart Lighting & Motorized Shades in Saskatoon
Light that follows the day and blinds that manage the prairie sun — on the switches you already use, in one app, run by a hub inside your home. We design it, install it and hand you the controls.
- Locally owned, Saskatoon
- Works with Lutron, Philips Hue & Somfy
- No subscription to run your home
What is smart lighting control?
Smart lighting control means your lights and blinds respond to the time of day, the season and who is home — not only to a switch. Dimmers, keypads and motorized shades are tied to a hub that runs scenes and schedules on its own. The wall switch still works, and none of it depends on the internet.
In a Saskatchewan home that matters more than most. Saskatoon gets about seven and a half hours of daylight at the winter solstice and more than sixteen in June, and low western sun heats rooms and fades floors all summer. Good lighting and good shading are how a house handles both.
- Your switches stayA smart dimmer replaces the switch itself, so guests, kids and sitters use the wall the way they always have.
- It runs in your homeScenes and schedules live on the KeenAi hub in your house, not on a server somewhere else.
- One app for the houseLights and shades sit next to heat, locks, music and water in KeenAi One.
- Shades, battery or wiredBattery motors for finished rooms; hardwired motors for new builds and big windows.
Every light in the house, on one screen
- Room by room. See what’s on and at what level, grouped the way you live — with All off, Comfortable and Full for the whole house.
- Dim from anywhere. Slide a level from the couch, or turn off the light someone left on from the airport.
- Warmth and colour, where the fixture can. Tunable-white lights go warm in the evening and crisp for working.
- Scenes, not switches. Good morning, Dinner, Movie, Golden hour and Goodnight each set every light and shade they include, in one tap.
One room, one screen: the lights and the shades
- The room is the unit. The Great Room screen holds its heat, its three lighting zones, its shades and its sheers.
- Sheers by day, shades by night. Soften low winter sun without losing the view, then close for privacy after dark.
- Ask in plain words. “Close the Great Room shades and set the Great Room to 21 degrees.” KeenAi shows you its plan, and nothing moves until you confirm.
- Follows the sun. West shades can lower on summer afternoons and rise again at sunset, whatever time sunset is that day.
The house lights itself, so nobody has to think about it
Every home is set up around the people in it. This is the kind of day we design for.
Good morning
The kitchen comes up gently, the bedroom shades open and the hallway step lights go off.
The sun swings west
West-facing shades lower on hot summer afternoons, keeping the room cooler and the floor from fading.
Golden hour
Lights warm and dim as the sun goes — before five in December, after half past nine in June. The house knows which.
Movie
The Media Room dims, the blackout shades come down and the star ceiling comes on.
Goodnight
“Turn off all the lights and lock all the doors.” One sentence, one plan, one confirm.
Blackout shades and a star ceiling, in one tap
- Room by room control for the spaces that need it most: media rooms, bedrooms and nurseries.
- Blackout shades that close fully, on their own or as part of a scene.
- Feature lighting — sconces, a star ceiling, cove lights — that belongs to the room’s scenes rather than to a forgotten switch.
- Climate in the same place, because a full room warms up quickly.
See how lighting works with the screen and the sound on our home theatre and audio page.
The same app, on the wall
A tablet in the kitchen or by the front door runs KeenAi One in its wall-panel layout: big targets, the room you’re standing in, and the whole house a tap away. It’s the control for the people who never open an app.
- Nothing new to learn — it’s the phone app, laid out for the wall.
- Keypads still do the everyday work; the panel does everything else.
- Placed where the household walks past, powered so it’s never hunting for a charger.
Lighting and shading, done properly at the switch and at the window
Smart dimmers & switches
Replace the switch, keep the wall. Proper LED dimming with a feel anyone understands.
Scene keypads
Engraved buttons by the door and the bed: Good morning, Away, Movie, Goodnight.
Motorized shades & blinds
Roller, cellular, sheer and blackout, battery or hardwired, all part of your scenes.
Sunset timing
Entry and outdoor lights follow the real sunset, not a timer that’s wrong by September.
Night paths & motion
Low step lights at night; closet, laundry and garage lights that turn themselves off.
Away & vacation
A lived-in look while you’re at the lake: rooms light and darken on a believable pattern.
Tunable white & colour
Warm in the evening, bright for working, colour for the moments that call for it.
Whole-home lighting systems
Lutron, Hue, Zigbee, Z-Wave and Matter devices side by side in one app.
Ask KeenAi
Speak or type a request. You see the plan before anything changes.
Smart bulbs, smart switches or a lighting system?
Most homes end up with a mix. Here is how we decide what goes where.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Smart bulbs (Philips Hue, IKEA) | Lamps, colour accents and renters. | Turn the wall switch off and they go dead. Across a room of pot lights, the cost adds up. |
| Smart dimmers & switches (Lutron Caséta, Leviton, Inovelli) | Most rooms in most homes. They work with the fixtures you have, and the wall still works for everyone. | Some need a neutral wire in the switch box and some don’t. We check box by box. |
| Lighting system (Lutron RadioRA 3, HomeWorks) | New builds and large homes, with engraved keypads and whole-house scenes. | Best planned at framing, with more design work up front. |
| Motorized shades | West and south glass, tall windows nobody can reach, and bedrooms you want dark. | Choose battery or hardwired before drywall if you’re building. |
A Saskatchewan lighting problem is a real problem
Long winter evenings
Around the winter solstice the sun is down before five. For months most of your waking hours at home are under artificial light, so warm, layered, dimmable light is worth more here than almost anywhere.
Hard summer sun
In June the day runs past sixteen hours, and low western sun drives heat and glare into west-facing rooms. Shades that react every afternoon do what nobody remembers to do.
Timers drift
Sunset moves by more than four and a half hours between June and December. Lighting tied to the actual sunset stays right all year; a timer is wrong most of it.
The lighting and shade brands you already know
KeenAi One brings these into one app. If your home already has one of them, we’ll tell you at the assessment what we can bring in.
Switches & dimmers
Wall controls and in-box modules
- Lutron Caséta
- Lutron RadioRA 3
- Lutron HomeWorks
- Leviton
- Inovelli
- Shelly
Bulbs & fixtures
Smart lamps, strips and colour
- Philips Hue
- IKEA
- LIFX
- WiZ
- Nanoleaf
Shades & blinds
Motorized window coverings
- Lutron Serena
- Lutron Sivoia
- Somfy
- Hunter Douglas PowerView
- IKEA
Open standards too: Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter and Thread. Brand names are trademarks of their owners. This list shows equipment KeenAi One can work with; it is not a claim of dealer or partner status.
From first call to a house that lights itself
Free assessment
We walk the house, open a few switch boxes and look at the windows that matter.
Design & quote
Which rooms, which scenes, which keypads, which shades — on paper, with a fixed quote.
Install
Line-voltage work is done to code by licensed electrical partners. Shades are measured and fitted.
Handover
Scenes set with you, the app on every phone, and a walk-through for whoever is least technical.
When we’re the right call
- You want the switches to keep working and the house to do more.
- Sun, glare or privacy is a daily problem at certain windows.
- You’re building or renovating and want it planned once, properly.
When you don’t need us
- A few lamps? Smart bulbs and their own app are fine.
- Renting? Choose plug-in and bulb-based options you can take with you.
- One blind that bothers you? A battery motor kit may be enough.
Smart lighting & shades: frequently asked questions
Do smart light switches need a neutral wire?
Some do and some don’t. Lutron Caséta dimmers, for example, work without a neutral, while many other smart switches need one. Older homes often lack a neutral in some switch boxes, so we open the boxes at the assessment and choose a device that fits each one.
Can I keep my existing light switches?
You keep the switch locations and the habit. Usually the switch itself is replaced with a smart dimmer that looks and works like a normal switch. Where you want to keep a particular switch, a small module behind it can do the smart part.
What’s the difference between Lutron Caséta and RadioRA 3?
Caséta is Lutron’s wireless system for retrofits: dimmers, Pico remotes and shades, easy to add room by room. RadioRA 3 is Lutron’s professional system, with engraved keypads, more devices per system and whole-house design. Both work with KeenAi One; the right one depends on the size of the house and how many keypads you want.
Do smart lights work without the internet?
Yes. Switches work as switches, and scenes and schedules run on the KeenAi hub in your home. What needs the internet is control from outside the house and alerts to your phone; both resume on their own when the connection comes back.
Smart bulbs or smart switches — which is better?
Switches for most rooms: they control every fixture on the circuit, and the wall keeps working for everyone. Bulbs make sense for lamps, colour effects and renters. Many homes use both, and KeenAi One runs them side by side.
Are motorized blinds worth it?
Where the sun is a problem, usually yes: west and south windows, tall windows nobody can reach, and bedrooms you want dark. On a north window you rarely touch, probably not — and we’ll say so.
Battery or hardwired motorized shades?
Battery motors suit finished rooms because they need no new wiring; the batteries need recharging or replacing from time to time, depending on the motor and how often the shade moves. Hardwired motors are best for new builds, large or heavy shades and windows that are hard to reach. If you’re building, plan the wire before drywall either way.
Can I motorize the blinds I already have?
Sometimes. Some roller blinds can take a retrofit motor, but most motorized shades are built as a unit with the motor inside the roller. We look at what you have and tell you honestly whether retrofitting makes sense or a new shade is the better buy.
What happens to my lights if the hub stops working?
The wall switches and dimmers still turn lights on and off, because they work on their own. Scenes and schedules pause until the hub is back, and the app shows a hub or device that stops responding as offline rather than pretending it’s fine.
Can lights turn on automatically with motion?
Yes, where it helps: closets, laundry, garage, stairs and night paths. In living spaces we usually use scenes instead, because lights that react to every movement get annoying quickly.
Can I control the lights by voice?
Yes. Ask KeenAi by voice or text from the app or a wall panel — “turn off all the lights and lock all the doors” — and it shows you its plan before acting. Speech is turned into text by your phone or browser; the plan is worked out on the hub in your home.
How much does smart lighting cost in Saskatoon?
It depends on how many switches, which system and how many shades: a three-switch kitchen and a whole-house RadioRA 3 system are different jobs. We price it at a free on-site assessment and give you a fixed quote before any work begins.
Should we plan smart lighting during a new build?
Yes — it’s the best time. Keypad locations, wiring for hardwired shades and the right switch boxes all go in at framing. Call us before insulation and drywall.
Updated October 2026.
Lighting works best with the rest of the house
See what your home could do with light
We look at your switches and your windows in Saskatoon, Warman or Martensville and give you a fixed quote on the spot.
Elsewhere in Saskatchewan? Get a free quote without a visit; larger projects travel.