subject: Many Marvelous Attributes of Architectural Lighting Control for New and Remodeled Homes [print this page] Many Marvelous Attributes of Architectural Lighting Control for New and Remodeled Homes
The concept that one can have actual control over the individual light loads in one's house has come a long way from its inauguration thirty years ago. In fact, I would proclaim lighting control systems have reached a peak in preeminence as of this writing. You, my reader today, may not be as well-spoken in the language of lighting control as some others, so I am going to begin by making sure you comprehend just what a lighting control system is and some of the benefits you would derive from installing one in your home.Lighting control is a technology where each light load is controlled individually and lights can be controlled as a group. When I say control, I mean you can command every aspect of the light.Choose the Illumination LevelIt's not like the olden days that when you flipped a light switch the light would snap on at 100% illumination. No, these days you can choose the brightness level of the light in advance by programming the switch to turn on at 80% as an example.Conserve Energy On Your Lighting BillA reduced level of 90% is virtually indistinguishable from full-on, yet saves 10% energy. If set at 80% illumination, energy conservation is 20%. Lights set at 50% illumination save 50% energy. Now multiply this energy conservation number by your entire house.Singular LightsSome lights are intentionally programmed to come on at a much reduced light illumination level, not to conserve energy necessarily, but to serve a special need such as a porch light. Sometimes porch lights are programmed to come on at forty to sixty percent.Program Ramp-Up RateOne can program the rate at which a light turns on from 0% to whatever level it has been set to illuminate. Everyone knows how uncomfortable it is to turn on a light in a dark room only to have it snap to the on condition at 100%. Now it can be programmed to ramp up slowly from 0% to the desired illumination over a few seconds to several minutes.Program Fade RateLights can also be programmed to fade down the illumination level at a controlled rate. It's no fun to be in the bathroom getting ready for bed and turn out the last light in the house at night only to walk across the room toward the bed in total darkness. How many stubbed toes have resulted from that age old action? Now when you turn off the light switch, the light will slowly fade to 0% illumination level over a few seconds to several minutes.Single or Double Tap?There are two methods to turning on a given light. If you tap the decora type light switch once, the light ramps up at the rate it has been programmed. Or you can quickly tap the light switch two times and it will snap on immediately. Of course, the same is true when you are turning the light off. One touch and it fades at the rate it has been programmed, or two taps and it turns to 0%.Lighting ScenesThe most significant utilization of any lighting control system is the ability to control lighting scenes. Energy conservation is definitely important and so are smooth ramp rates, but it is the ability to control chosen lights as a group that really gets the public's attention. You can design any number of scenes, determine which lights will be part of the lighting scenes, and how the lighting scenes will be executed. Lighting a pathway through your home is but one example.Blank SlateDesigning a scene gives the home owner a blank slate in terms illumination of various lights. For example, just because you include a living room light that normally ramps up to a light illumination level of 75% does not mean that you are stuck with that performance when it is selected for a scene. You will be able to determine all new ramp, fade, and illumination performance levels for that particular light when it is included as part of a scene.There is more terrific news about select lights being part of lighting scenes. Just because you programmed the parameters of that living room light we included in our first scene, does not mean you are stuck with those parameters in any new scenes. Again you will have a clean slate when programming the properties of that living room light.I include scads more data about the different types of lighting control systems, and the pros and cons of each, in other articles. However, contained within this article without any further explanation you can see that a good lighting control system offers much to people who are building new homes or remodeling an existing house. One thing is for sure and that is when people experience true automated lighting control, for even a short period of time, it is very hard for them to live without it ever again.
