Energy Savings Via Lighting Control

  


  Energy savings are now becoming the major quick source of cost savings in these times of austerity and cutbacks. Sometimes the ideas are such that they can inhibit the work levels that need to be attained but savings in electrical usage can at times be made without any loss in commercial or production activity.

Taking a typical office activity the lighting bill is about 39% of the total energy usage and sometimes it is possible to reduce this significantly. If it is also combined with an automatic shading system then the savings can often multiply. Lutron claim that they were able to save the New York Times some $600,000 per annum from the introduction of a total light and shading automated control system.


The latest Quantum type systems control the lighting throughout the day according to the natural light levels available. It controls each light section by sampling the lighting levels in the office at any one time and the balancing the light to give a standard predetermined lighting level. This lighting level is generally that level which is recommended as best for the type of work required. The lights are dimmed by the typical dimmer with a wireless control. If you can dim the lights by 50% then the savings are obviously large.


The typical lighting cycle will control the lights so they have almost full strength first thing in the morning will dim steadily through the morning as the natural light intensifies, and will get stronger in the afternoon as dusk approaches. The system can be tuned to deal with lighting dark zones by putting these on a separate system, and either controlling them on a separate light analyser or by programming that area so that the dimmer is a certain percentage lower than the main areas.






If the system also controls shading this can control the temperature in the room and reduce the level of air conditioning, and also reduce glare from direct sunlight. The glare problem is particularly difficult for east, south and west facing windows in winter when the sun is low in the sky and the need to control this can be important to the workforce.

These systems can be put in as new but there is little problem in retro fitting the system as it is wireless and can be set up from a central, local or handheld control and all switches, controls and dimmers can just be fitted into the present system.

Energy and therefore can be drastically saved in both the home and the workplace by investing in automated lighting products - stop wasting energy and convert to an automated lighting system today.

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