Author: Diamond Design

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    The Night the Lot Went Dark: Why one DFW Dealership Finally Replaced Their Douglas Lighting Controls

    It was a Friday evening when the call came in.

    A customer had driven over to browse the lot after hours, something people do all the time, and the lights were out. Not dimmed. Out. The whole front lot, dark.

    The facilities manager didn’t know. The GM didn’t know. Nobody knew until a customer called the main line and left a voicemail.

    By the time anyone got out there to reset the panel, it was 11PM.

    What Was In the Panel

    When we showed up the following week to do a site survey, we found exactly what we expected: a Douglas WR6161K relay panel that had been running the lot since the mid-2000s, paired with a couple of Intermatic mechanical dial timers and a rooftop photocell that had clearly seen better days.

    The Douglas panel itself was actually fine. Those contactors are built to last, and the relay hardware was still functional. The problem was everything driving it.

    The timers had drifted. Nobody had adjusted them for daylight saving in years. The photocell had been failing intermittently. Sometimes it would override the schedule and turn lights on during the day, sometimes it would fail to trigger at all. And when the Douglas control system was online, you had to log into each system’s IP address to make changes, there was no global configuration. And there was no way to know any of this was happening until someone physically drove to the lot.

    That’s the real problem with legacy systems: they fail silently.

    What We Replaced (And What We Kept)

    This is where a lot of people expect us to say we ripped everything out and started over. In fact, many of the other companies only wanted to do just that. We didn’t.

    The Douglas panel stays. Those contactors are rated for decades of use and there’s no reason to replace functional hardware. What we replaced was the control side, the part that tells the contactors when to open and close and the lights to ultimately turn on or off.

    Out went the Douglas control system, the Intermatic timers, and the failed photocell. In went Shelly Pro relay controllers and a new photocell tied through an interposing relay so it feeds a dry contact signal to the Shelly rather than trying to switch line voltage directly.

    The whole system connected to the building’s existing network. Setup took one day. The electrician was out by 3pm.

    What It Looks Like Now

    The facilities manager or the GM can pull up the Shelly app on his phone, or the IT guy can login to the website. They can see every zone: front lot, side lot, building perimeter, body shop, and whether each one is on or off. They can turn individual zones on or off with a tap. They can see the schedule and adjust it without touching the panel or putting on shoes.

    The schedule itself is based on GPS sunrise/sunset data, so it adjusts automatically throughout the year. No more seasonal resets. No more drift.

    The photocell is still in the loop, but now it’s a backup. On overcast days or during storms, if ambient light drops below threshold, the system turns the lights on automatically. When the schedule says lights on at sunset, they come on at sunset and not 45 minutes late because a timer hasn’t been touched since 2019.

    And if anything goes wrong, the app shows it. The facilities manager gets a notification. Nobody has to drive out there to find out the lot is dark.

    The Part That Surprised Them

    After we handed off the system and walked the team through the app, the GM asked a question we hear pretty often: “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

    Honestly? Because nobody knew it was an option. Most people assume upgrading commercial lighting controls means a major panel replacement project with new contactors, new panels, relays, conduit, days of downtime, big invoices.

    The reality is that in most cases, the contactors are fine. The upgrade is the control layer, and it can take as little as one day.

    Is Your Panel Due for an Upgrade?

    If you’re running a Douglas Controls, a legacy Intermatic-based system, or if your lighting control is the Sales Intern at your dealership, it’s worth a conversation. We’ll do a free site survey, document what you’ve got, and tell you exactly what a modernization would look like for your specific panel.

    No pressure. Just a clear picture of what’s possible.

    Request a Free Site Assessment →

  • Network Upgrade at PK Lake Home

    Recently, Diamond Design was brought back to a home on the shores of Possum Kingdom Lake to refresh the property’s network infrastructure – a place where we did the initial install and have been supporting for more than 15 years.

    When the system was originally designed, the equipment made sense for the time. But like most technology, it eventually reached the end of its useful life. Reliability was becoming inconsistent, visibility into the network was limited, and supporting the system efficiently was getting harder than it needed to be.

    The goal of this update wasn’t to chase the newest gear but rather to simplify support, improve transparency, and deliver solid performance without overcomplicating things.

    We transitioned the property to a UniFi-based network, primarily to create a single, unified management view for ongoing support, paired with an intuitive app that the homeowner could use if they wanted insight into what was happening behind the scenes. The price-to-performance balance also made sense for a property of this size and complexity.

    The updated design now supports three dedicated networks: one for the homeowner, one for guests, and a separate network for connected systems like generators, irrigation controls, and thermostats. That separation helps keep everything running smoothly, even when the house is full.

    Whether you’re taking in the view from the firepit overlooking Hell’s Gate, jumping off the boat dock, relaxing in the guest house, or playing games in the media room, the network stays out of the way and does its job.

    Of course, at Possum Kingdom, it’s always tempting to turn it all off and enjoy the quiet, which, honestly, might be the real measure of a system done right.

  • When To Bring The Integrator In

    One of the most common mistakes we see in new construction and remodel projects is bringing the technology conversation in too late. In this episode of the AVNation podcast, I sat down with Patrick Norton and Katye McGregor-Bennett to talk about when integrators should be involved — and why early planning saves time, money, and frustration later.

    Key takeaways from the conversation:

    • Why technology planning should start during design, not after drywall
    • How early coordination prevents compromises and budget creep
    • What homeowners and builders often underestimate about networking
    • Where integrators add the most value before install day

    If you’re planning a new build or remodel and wondering when to start thinking about technology, this conversation is a good place to begin. Every project is different — but the earlier the discussion starts, the better the outcome tends to be.