How many circuits is needed for a lighting control system to be economically viable? Under what conditions should one consider adopting a smart lighting control system?
The basic premise for DAE’s lighting control system is one in which there is no central processing unit and incorporation of classic switches. As a result, adoption is economical even for an application with the number of circuits in the single digits. So the real consideration is not simply how many circuits there are, but rather the following factors are more relevant:
- Is there a need to save energy or to create a mood or atmosphere through lighting?
- Is there a need to control the same lighting circuit from multiple locations?
- Is there a need to centralize the control for the lights (such as in a control room, or front desk)?
- Is there a need for a form of automated schedule control or daylight sensing control?
- Is there a need for remote control through the network or in using a touch panel for control?
If any one of the above conditions is satisfied, then one should consider adopting a lighting control system. In reality, the cost of adoption is quite reasonable and not prohibitively expensive. It should be emphasized that having smart lighting control is not the same as having an extravagantly expensive high class luminaires. But rather it is merely having a very practical and new fangled form of lighting control.
Lighting control can be divided into the following purposes:
- Spatial mood control
There are lots of lighting circuits in any large space, some of them are dimmable, while others can simply be turned on or off, but together they are an indispensable aspect of creating the mood and atmosphere of any space. With a lighting control in place, the different scenes can be preset and assigned to individual buttons to allow the desired scenes to be recalled instantly when needed. - Multiple points of access
Any single lighting circuit will often need to be controlled from more than one location, as is often the case in a large room. The user enters from location A and turns on the lights, but they leave at location B and so turns off the lights from that location instead of having to travel back to A. Having multiple access also means that one can centralize all controls at one locations for easy management of the entire facility. - Energy saving control
This applies to different types of spaces. Each type of space has its own characteristic that requires a different approach to energy saving. Often this requires the use of local switches or motion sensors in conjunction with the right type of smart controller or switch to achieve the energy saving effect. - Remote control
The controls can be aggregated into one central location. This way all the lights can be remotely monitored and controlled from this one location for the convenience of the building staff or operator. But in order to achieve such a form of centralized control, the prerequisite requirement is that there must be some form of feedback that will allow the operator to know the real time condition of the lights.
Remote control need not however be limited to one fixed physical location such as having a touch panel on a wall or PC on the desk, it can also be portable as well, such as in using a mobile phone.
It should be emphasized that lighting control allows for local control together with remote control at the same time. Which means that both local and remote control would always be synchronized. - Scheduled or conditional control
Automatic control can be achieved through a schedule or using local sensors. - Integration with high tech equipment
Since the system is now digitized, the system can be integrated with other digital devices such as an IR remote control unit, mobile phones, touch panels or linked to the Internet and viewed with a web browser. - Forced and Authorized Control from the Control Center
A public facility sometimes need to be disallowed from being controlled locally, but other times the local user should be free to control the lights as needed.
As for example, a highly trafficked corridor should have its light always be on during the day, and so local control is disallowed during the day. But in the evening or during holidays, the lights are turned off but local control is allowed so that any local user can turn the lights on as needed. - Gradual fade in and out effect
A touch of elegance can be made even to simple process of turning the lights on or off by making the transition process gradual by fading the lights in or out.