May 5, 2022
According to the Lighting Controls Association, one study showed that buildings employing a Lighting Control strategy cut the energy consumed by their lighting by 24% - 38%.
Lower energy usage equals lower energy bills.
Lighting is one of the costliest energy expenses for commercial and institutional buildings. Lighting Controls that cut energy consumption are good for everyone – as well as your bottom line. Not surprisingly, many building codes and standards have or are proposing mandatory manual or automatic Lighting Controls.
There’s more good news. Taking control of your lighting has additional benefits. Having the right level of illumination is key to getting the job done with a minimum of errors. And lighting levels are a critical part of keeping your employees and visitors safe.
Good Lighting Controls are all about efficiency and reducing waste.
Some Lighting Controls are fairly basic, while others sound sophisticated. What they all have in common is that they can be easy to install, and easy to use from a Lighting Control panel.
Here are some different Lighting Control options:
LED Lighting Controls
Many businesses have already switched to LED lighting. It uses less energy than incandescent lighting. LED bulbs last longer and are resistant to breakage. They cost more up front, but over the long term they typically save money. LED lighting also makes more Lighting Controls possible.
Suggested LED Products and Lighting Controls: LED Linear Lighting, Lighting Control Panel, Commercial Lighting
Task Tuning
Task tuning is a fancy way to describe using dimmers to avoid wasting energy. (When you dim LED lights, you use less energy.) So, instead of having the same level of illumination throughout your building, you use dimmers to provide only the amount of illumination needed for the task at hand. For example, a building’s hallways don’t need as much illumination as, say, the manufacturing floor where employees are working with potentially dangerous machinery.
With Lighting Controls, your business will waste less energy lighting unoccupied spaces. You'll see the difference in your monthly energy bills.
Suggested Task Tuning Lighting Controls: Room Controller, Dimmer, Fixture Mount Dimmer
Sensing Lighting Controls
Motion sensors allow you to keep certain areas dark or very dimly lit except when a motion sensor senses movement; in that case, the lights come up and turn off automatically after a predetermined time. Motion sensors are especially popular for outdoor security purposes such as making parking lots safer.
Occupancy sensors turns lights on when they sense someone is in the room and turn off, or dim considerably, when the occupants leave. They’re an ideal way to cut energy consumption in places such as stairwells, conference rooms, and restrooms.
Suggested Sensing Lighting Controls: Room Controller, Occupancy Sensors
Daylight Harvesting Lighting Controls
Why pay for electricity when there’s free daylight available? Daylight harvesting allows businesses to take advantage of any available natural light. Photo sensors detect ambient light and automatically adjust (dim or turn off) your artificial lighting; in other words, your lighting works with the available natural light to achieve the desired level of illumination. Daylight harvesting Lighting Controls are ideal for your spaces that feature lots of windows, large windows, and/or skylights.
Suggested Daylight Harvesting Lighting Controls: Daylight Sensor, Stand Alone Sensor
Scheduling Lighting Controls
Using timers to turn lights on and off at specific times isn’t a new idea, but it still works to curtail your energy consumption.
Suggested Scheduling Lighting Controls: Digital Timer, Commercial Lighting
Whether you’re involved with new construction or retrofitting an existing building, you’ll find that Lighting Controls are typically easy to install. For more information about both wired Lighting Controls and wireless Lighting Controls for your business, please contact your local agent.