GE Lighting Expands into Smart Shades, Unveils New Smart Home Innovations at CES 2025
GE Lighting, a Savant-owned brand, is poised for a significant expansion in the coming year, venturing into the professionally installed smart shade market for the first time. The company unveiled its new Proseo line of lights and shades at the CEDIA 2024 conference back in September, and showcased them once again at CES alongside a host of other new smart home products, including café lights, dimmer switches, and outdoor light strips. Simultaneously, Savant, GE Lighting’s parent company, is launching its own smart system designed to help consumers actively manage and reduce their energy consumption.
While GE Lighting has long been established in the traditional smart lighting and switch categories, the introduction of the Proseo line marks its entry into the competitive smart shade arena. The Proseo range is specifically designed for professional installers, emphasizing ease of integration and a premium user experience. It consists of a variety of smart shades, keypads, and panelized lights, all of which are seamlessly integrated and compatible with GE Lighting’s existing Cync app and ecosystem of smart lights.
According to GE Lighting, the Proseo shades offer a blend of modern design aesthetics, high-performance fabrics, and an unmatched level of control interface options. The shades are designed with a focus on discreet hardware integration, ensuring that wires and screws are neatly concealed for a clean and sophisticated look. The aim is to provide a solution that not only offers advanced functionality but also seamlessly integrates into any home décor.
The Proseo line offers a range of entry points for consumers. A Proseo starter kit, which includes a switch, will be available for $99, offering an affordable way to begin integrating smart shades into a home. Proseo switches will also be sold separately, with prices ranging from $30 to $60, allowing users to expand their control system as needed. The made-to-fit Proseo shades will be individually priced for each installation, ensuring a customized solution that perfectly meets the unique needs of each customer and their window dimensions. The company is banking on the personalized fit and integration capabilities to appeal to consumers and professional installers alike.
Beyond the exciting entry into smart shades, GE Lighting is also expanding its core lighting offerings with new and innovative products. One notable addition is the Cync Dynamic Effects Café Lights. These lights are designed to bring a vibrant and dynamic ambiance to outdoor spaces, with music-syncing capabilities that allow the lights to pulse and change color in rhythm with music. The lights also feature individually controllable color segments, allowing for a high degree of customization and the creation of unique lighting scenes. Durability is also a key feature, with "reinforced" eyeholes that make it easy to hang the lights from ropes, wires, or hooks. The Cync Dynamic Effects Café Lights will be available in 24- and 48-foot lengths, priced at $39.99 and $69.99 respectively, and are slated to go on sale in March.
Adding to the outdoor lighting options, GE Lighting will also be releasing the Cync Dynamic Effects Outdoor Light Strips in April. These light strips promise a "thinner, more flexible" design, making them easier to install and integrate into a variety of outdoor settings. Similar to the café lights, the outdoor light strips will also feature music-syncing capabilities, allowing for a cohesive and immersive outdoor entertainment experience. A 16-foot version of the Dynamic Effects Outdoor Light Strip will retail for $79.99, while the 32-foot strip will cost $129.99.
To enhance its indoor lighting control options, GE Lighting is introducing new dimmer switches, including the Smart Keypad Dimmer and Smart Paddle Dimmer, both scheduled to launch in March. The keypad dimmer, priced at $44.99, boasts a pair of programmable buttons that can be customized to trigger specific light scenes or control groups of lights, offering a convenient way to set the perfect ambiance with a single touch. The paddle dimmer, priced at $25.99, allows users to fine-tune the brightness of their lights using a side slider, providing precise control over the lighting levels in a room.
Further solidifying its commitment to smart home connectivity and interoperability, GE Lighting will also be rolling out revamped versions of its existing smart switches later this year. These updated switches will feature traveler wires for three-way connectivity, eliminating the need for Wi-Fi in certain configurations and providing a more reliable and robust control solution. Notably, the Matter-enabled switches will also be able to control the power for an entire circuit, adding an extra layer of control and safety.
On the Savant side, the company is stepping up to address growing consumer concerns about energy consumption and rising utility costs. The Savant Smart Budget package, a professionally installed power-monitoring system, is designed to help homeowners cut down on energy costs. The system, slated to arrive in the second quarter of 2025, tracks and controls power usage via a series of modules installed in the home’s electrical panel.
The Savant app provides a centralized interface for monitoring and managing energy consumption. The app will regulate the panel’s power output, allowing homeowners to prioritize their energy usage, shed unneeded power loads, and balance their power consumption. This level of granular control empowers users to make informed decisions about their energy usage and identify opportunities to reduce waste. Available through professional installation channels, the Savant Smart Budget system is priced at $1,500 and up, reflecting the complexity and expertise required for installation. The system is expected to be a popular choice for homeowners looking to optimize their energy usage and reduce their carbon footprint.
In summary, GE Lighting’s expansion into the smart shade market, along with its new café lights, dimmer switches, and outdoor light strips, signals a significant evolution for the brand. Combined with Savant’s introduction of the Smart Budget power-monitoring system, the two companies are offering a comprehensive suite of smart home solutions designed to enhance comfort, convenience, and energy efficiency. By catering to both DIY enthusiasts and professional installers, GE Lighting and Savant are strategically positioning themselves to capture a significant share of the rapidly growing smart home market. The innovations presented at CES 2025 demonstrate a clear commitment to providing consumers with cutting-edge technology that simplifies their lives and helps them save money.
