Lighting Control
Dimming and switching light can
transform a cold house into a character-full home. In large homes,
just the drag of having to check that all lights are off before going
to bed or away for the weekend justify installing some sort of lighting
control. Lighting control can also be used to give the appearance
of the house being occupied while away if connected correctly to a security
system or, to support any Closed Circuit TV cameras you wish to install.
To help you gain an understanding of lighting control technology quickly
we have organised this section as follows:
We have also include summary information about most lighting control
manufacturers operating in the UK market here.
Lighting Zone. A light or group
of lights (or curtains) controlled by a single switch/dimmer. By
definition you cannot control lighting units smaller of a zone. So
if a zone has four lights, you cannot switch two on and two off (if
this is what you want to achieve, then you have
to wire
them as two zones with two lights each). A zone is a lighting unit.
For a living room you may have overhead light (say a chandelier), wall
lights, standard lamp and two (separate) table lamps - getting to 5
zones. If
you have curtains or picture lights then - you need to add more zones.
In commercial spaces the similar concept is referred as "channel".
Local area. Unit of
space that you want to light. It may contain one or more zones. Usually,
but not always, a room. But it can equally have a local area of half
a room or span over 2-3 rooms.
Master area. A collection
of local areas - for instance "all indoor lighting" or "all first floor
indoor lighting".
Scene. A light environment
in a local area created by adjusting the light level of all the zones
that have been assigned to it. Normally a room, but can equally
cover
a larger area. A room that doubles as living room and home cinema may
have "On", "Showtime", "Reading"
and "Party"
lighting scenes - so
four
scenes
("All
Off"
is never
counted as scene).
If you want to know more about the different types of lamps and dimming
options, please click here.
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| There are entire books (see for instance K
McCloud; Lighting Book,1999; or S Storey, Lighting By Design,
2002)
dedicated to this subject and the advice of an interior designer
should provide invaluable here. When considering interior
lighting at least take into account: |
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The
dimensions of the room and the colour of the furnishings. Narrow
rooms need more diffuse light. Rooms furnished with
dark colours need more light.
-
The
existence and orientation of any windows / skylights - a
south facing window may need little light during day hours
- thus concentrate on how it will look at night. It
may also affect location of any curtains (whether automated
or no).
-
The
existing furniture (or one likely to be placed) - and any
light-base decorative requirements (e.g. pictures that need
to light). Watch
out for mirrors.
-
The
uses for the room - entertaining, reading, dinning, hobbies,
etc. If you plan to watching TV and/or movies, the type of
screen technology that you chose (direct TV, plasma, projector)
may impact your choice and location of lighting.
-
If
you have special purpose or dual purpose areas (home cinemas,
recording studios, music rooms, pools, etc.) then consider
not just the likely uses - but the fact you may change your
mind: a studio may became a library; a pool may become a
party space; etc.
-
The
types of lights you may want to use - incandescent is the
most common. Fluorescent lights are more efficient
but do create interference and are more difficult (read expensive)
to control. Low voltage halogen are rarely used in
the professional market and most installations opt for the
mains voltage version - avoiding
the need of a transformer and special wiring.
-
Plan
for potential changes of use - what if you want to hang one
more picture - or later convert a living room into a dining
room?
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You may want to consider lighting in the following
circumstances:
-
Background/full
lighting for a garden party or barbeque.
-
Lighting
for special outdoor areas - a gazebo, a pool, etc.
-
Lighting
to the forecourt / drive / access to main door.
-
Lighting
to accent the house (also referred as architectural lighting).
-
Security
floodlights and IR lights in support of CCTV cameras.
But don't feel you need to stop here. See
for instance,
R Whitehead, The Art of Outdoor Lighting,
1999. or
J Raine, Garden Lighting, 2001.
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The most common requirements for
light control are:
- In-situ from a standard
light switch.
This is an important requirement as having to search for a remote control
every time you enter a room may prove cumbersome. What you want
to control from here (say just main lights on/off, versus on/dimming/off)
and the look of the switch are important considerations that may simplify
or complicate the installation considerably.
Most of our clients will insist in having wall light switches that
match their decoration and styling - while preserving the fully-featured
but
not-so-cool manufacturers-own panels to out of sight areas. This
approach also provides a well-known "user interface" to occasional
visitors
and service personnel.
Having standard wall switches controlling sophisticated lighting scenes
is not trivial. You can install a single/double/triple rocker
switch to provide on/off control to 1/2/3 zones (including curtains!)
- an a modified dimmer to provide 'dimming control'. It is also
possible to obtain (in most cases) suitably styled push-buttons that
can rotate across 3 scenes + off - or suitably styled knobs with a few
user selectable positions. Whatever you do, it pays to test the
configuration with your main control unit and lighting control modules
- before pre-wiring.
The general rule is that all is possible - at a price. So ensuring
that you have features that you really are going to use may save you
/ your installers time and money.
- From proprietary panels
(inc. vendor-own wall panels, remote controls & touch screens).
Vendor own wall panels provide easy-to-use functionality that may not
be available from standard light switches or may be deemed too be used
to infrequently to make it worthwhile programming into the touch screens.
The manufacturer's own panels also provided for the initial set up
entry, thus having them may not be optional. For
these reasons they typically get installed although not in prominent
places.
Lighting is also controlled from remote controls. This is required
because some of the actions (watching a
movie,
selecting
a
CCTV camera) will
have a lighting control feature.
- From key fobs.
This may be quite practical if you often arrive late at night and
wish to turn some lights on from the drive. Some vendors offer
this as an option but it is more often found integrated with the
security system.
- From internet browsers
(inc. PDAs).
It is possible to achieve this provided a number of technical foundations
are in place and while not usually worthwhile for just lighting - this
option is becoming more common while combined with security and surveillance.
If you want to know more about the features available from lighting
control suppliers please click here.
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Light can be controlled by occupancy
sensors (so a scene is selected when you enter the area) and/or photo
sensors (so exterior lighting only comes on when dark). As a general
rule, do
not hardwire these sensors to the lights. For home use, it is preferably
to connect the sensors to the Security System (or the Main Control Unit,
if the Security System is absent) and leave it to its logic
to decide whether to switch the lights on/off or not. In this way
the on/off logic is software-based and can be changed at a later date
if your requirements change.
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Finally, you may want to consider some provision for
emergency lighting. It really depends on the frequency of a blackout
in the area you live
and the impact on your lifestyle. Emergency lighting for instance can
be
set
in corridors
and
common areas,
allowing for you, your family or your guests to gather in these areas
in the event of a black out at night time. If the power from
the
electricity
grid
is not
reliable and you live in a relatively remote location you may want to
consider having access to your own electrical generator.
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