LIGHTING CONTROLS Building Utilities 3 - Acoustics and Lighting Systems Lighting control is the management of light intensity, timing, and quality in various settings, from homes to commercial spaces. It involves technologies like switches, dimmers, sensors, and smart systems. Energy economy, comfort, safety, and ambience are all improved by efficient lighting control, which is essential for both residential and commercial buildings as well as outdoor landscapes. A good lighting design includes a good controls design. Lighting controls play a critical role in lighting systems, enabling users manually or automatically to: - turn the lights ON and OFF using a switch; and/or adjust light output up and down using a dimmer. This basic functionality can be used to generate these benefits for the lighting owner: - flexibility to satisfy user visual needs; and/or automation to reduce energy costs and improve sustainability. In recent years, lighting controls have evolved two additional capabilities: - adjust light source color, including shade of white light; and/or generate data via measuring and/or monitoring. Benefits of Lighting Control - By reducing lighting ON time, intensity or zoning, lighting controls reduce both demand and energy consumption. According to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) study, popular lighting control strategies produce 24-38% average lighting energy savings, which reduces building operating costs. Because of strong energy savings, most state commercial building energy codes require a wide range of controls in new construction. In existing construction, the controllability of LED lighting results in an ideal pairing with controls, combining to minimize energy costs. Categories of Lighting Control SWITCHES Switches are the most basic way of controlling light, offering the function of turning on or off a bulb. - Single Pole Switch A single pole switch has one input and output. It is commonly used to turn lights in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. - 3 Way Switch An electrical switch is used to control a light fixture from two different locations. - 4 Way Switch A light switch that adds another 3rd location compared to a 3-way switch. usually used in large rooms or halls that need 3 or more multiple switches from different locations. - Rotary Switch Just an ordinary switch that replaces the action of clicking into rotary action. typically used in cars Lighting Control Effects Lighting controls provide the following basic functions. End-users harness these functions to support energy management and/or visual needs. Change space appearance. Facilitate different functions of the space. Alter atmosphere and mood. Reduce glare; and/or Increase user satisfaction by providing users with the ability to control their lighting. DIMMERS Lighting controls are evolving to provide advanced functions, which vary in availability depending on system type and application need. Dimmer controls provide variable indoor lighting and can be operated manually, or with timers or sensors. When you dim lightbulbs, it reduces their wattage and output, which helps save energy. - Incandescent Dimmers for incandescent and halogen use what’s called a “phase control” where they turn the circuit on and off rapidly to make the brightness lower. - Halogen Dimmers for incandescent and halogen use what’s called a “phase control” where they turn the circuit on and off rapidly to make the brightness lower. - - Fluorescent The dimmer switch for fluorescent is not just an ordinary dimmer switch. They need electronic dimmers these are components that control the flow of electricity and are compatible with their ballasts. - - Timers Timers can be used to turn lights on and off at specific times. Manual timers plug into an electrical outlet for controlling objects such as lamps or light strings. Programmable digital timers, which can look like digital thermostats, automate indoor or outdoor lighting. Led Dimmers for led uses phase-cut dimmers or pulse-width modulation. Not all led are dimmable and not all dimmer switches are compatible. - - Rotary Dimmers Rotary dimmer switches work by adjusting the electrical voltage supplied to a light fixture, which controls the brightness of the light. Slide Dimmers Slide dimmers are the same as rotary dimmers, they only change the action from rotating to sliding up & down or left and right. SMART SWITCH Smart switches are the current technological advancement of manipulating the bulb, adding functions such as automation, color control, and wireless control. - Smart Bulbs Led bulbs that have been built in modern electronic components. added feature of connecting to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, has dedicated remote that can control color, temperature, and brightness. - Smart Button Pusher A device that flicks the switch physically. It is one of the easiest method to convert old lighting features into smart lighting features. - Color/CCT Control With LED, it is relatively economical to provide users with the ability to adjust lighting color and CCT. With tunable-white LED products, separately dimming arrays of warm- and cool-white LEDs allows users to adjust light source CCT. Other colors may be added to enhance the available color spectrum and ensure good color rendering. Two other approaches are dim-to-warm (LED products that dim to a very warm white like incandescent dimming) and full color tuning (separately dimmable red, green and blue LEDs plus amber or white and potentially other colors). Tap Dimmers SENSORS A light sensor is a passive device that converts light energy, whether visible or in the infrared spectrum, into an electrical signal. - Photocell Sensor Photocell sensors, also known as photoresistors or light-dependent resistors (LDRS), work by changing their Resistance in response to changes in light levels. - Motion/Occupancy Sensor Equipped with a passive infrared sensor, which detects changes in infrared radiation levels within its field of view.
