Sonor designs, installs and programs Rako lighting control for homes across Chester, Cheshire, the Wirral and North Wales — wireless for period properties and existing homes, wired for new builds — and looks after existing Rako systems, including ones we didn't install.
Rako is a British lighting control system that has quietly become the sensible choice for a large share of the country's better homes. It dims LED lighting smoothly and silently, its keypads are elegant and simple, and — crucially for Cheshire's stock of Georgian, Victorian and Arts-and-Crafts houses, farmhouses and barn conversions — its wireless range gives full scene control with no new cabling and no damage to original plaster or joinery. The wired range does the same job for new builds from a central dimmer rack, and the two can be mixed in one house.
We have specified Rako alongside Lutron and Control4 for many years. Rako integrates with Control4, so lighting scenes join audio, video, shading and security on one interface.
Wireless dimmers behind the existing plate or in the ceiling void, battery or wired keypads in finishes to suit the room, and the Rako hub for app control, schedules and integration. Installed room by room with no chasing.
Circuits designed from the plans with the architect and electrician, loads on a central dimmer rack in the plant room, keypads where they fall to hand. Every circuit addressable, every scene designed.
Engraved keypads with the scenes you'll actually use — Evening, Cooking, Dining, Movie, Goodnight, All Off — designed for each room and refined once you've lived with them.
Dimmable downlights, LED strip in coffers and joinery, tunable white and RGBW — all on the same keypads, with the drivers and dimming method matched so there is no flicker or buzz.
Ageing modules replaced, the current hub added, scenes re-programmed for how the house is used now, and systems installed by other companies taken on and supported.
Rako with Control4, motorised blinds, heating, audio and security — so "Movie" also lowers the blinds and "Goodnight" also arms the alarm. Also works with Apple, Google and Amazon voice control.
A large part of our work is in houses that were never meant to be rewired: listed town houses within Chester's walls, farmhouses and barn conversions across rural Cheshire, Victorian villas on the Wirral and along the North Wales coast. Rako's wireless system is the right answer for these homes — the dimming module goes where the existing switch is or in the void above, the keypad needs no cable, and the whole house can be brought onto scene control over a few days without a single new chase. Where a renovation does open the walls, we take the opportunity to wire the rooms that are opened and leave the rest wireless; the keypads and app are identical either way.
Throughout Cheshire, the Wirral and North Wales — Chester, Tarporley, Nantwich, Knutsford, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Prestbury, Hale, Heswall, Caldy, West Kirby, Llandudno, Conwy and surrounding areas.
Yes — this is what Rako's wireless range is for. Wireless dimmers sit behind the existing switch plate or in the ceiling void, and battery keypads fix to the wall with no cable, so original plaster, panelling and cornicing are untouched. It is our usual recommendation for listed buildings, barn conversions and Georgian and Victorian houses across Cheshire.
Yes. We survey what is installed, replace any ageing modules, add the current Rako hub for app control and integration, and re-program scenes around how you use the house now. Existing keypads and dimmers are kept wherever they are sound.
Yes. Rako integrates with Control4, so lighting scenes join audio, video, shading and security on one interface — a common combination in the homes we look after.
Wired for new builds and full renovations, where circuits can be designed from the plans and every load is on a central dimmer rack. Wireless for existing homes and phased projects. Both use the same keypads and app, and can be mixed within one house.
Yes. Rako drives dimmable LED downlights, LED strip, tunable white and RGBW lighting, and the scenes can combine them — warm and low in the evening, bright and cool for cleaning, a colour wash for a media wall or coffer.
Chester and all of Cheshire, the Wirral, Trafford and South Manchester, and North Wales from Deeside to the coast — including support for Rako systems originally installed by other companies.