Lighting Controls

By improving lighting controls in a building you can often significantly reduce energy consumption and costs with little or no capital investment. However, even in times when corporate social responsibility is moving to the fore and many organisations are taking energy efficiency and good environmental practices more seriously, it's not uncommon to see lights switched on throughout the day and long into the night, even though rooms are empty.

Lighting should be controlled to only lightly spiced ones in occupied and when artificial lighting is required. By controlling the use of artificial light when the amount of available daylight is adequate, organisations can often make considerable savings in energy costs.

Manual Lighting Controls

Most buildings manual lighting controls that can be anything from a single switch for one light, a single switch for multiple lights, or lots of switches lots of lights. To help users reduce energy consumption by switching off lights it may be necessary to label a light switch with a prominent "switch off!" sticker. Similarly, where a large bank of switches is used to control multiple lights, the label each lightswitch or display a lighting map
switches to enable users to easily identify which switch can be used to control lighting in specific areas.

Where appropriate, manual light switches should not be more than 8 m away from the light that it controls. In an office environment, many organisations are now using symbols bathroom pull cords to isolate small blocks of lighting in large rooms where the perimeter walls are too far away for convenient lighting control.

Occupancy sensors

Occupancy sensors use passive infrared, microwave or ultrasonic technology to detect movement in a room and control the lights. Occupancy sensors can also be used in conjunction with daylight sensors to ensure that lights are only switched on when there is insufficient natural light. Infrared sensors are relatively cheap and easy to install, but, unlike microwave sensors, they are unable to detect movement behind large objects that obscure their field of view.

Switching zones

Ideally, lighting should be controlled in switching zones that take into account individual rooms or partitioned areas, departments, lighting requirements by task, areas close to natural daylight, and safety lighting.

Other considerations

When developing a lighting control strategy, careful consideration should be given to the relevant aspects of health and safety and building security to ensure that adequate light is provided when required.

Lighting myths

For many years, many people believed that switching on a fluorescent light would use more energy than simply leaving the lights on. It's a myth!