Your home and your office should be designed, keeping your needs in mind. As your activities change throughout the day, your lighting should adapt as well, bright enough to read a book and dim to work on a computer. However in these times of austerity and cutbacks, energy savings are becoming an important source of cost savings. Savings in electrical usage can be made without any loss in commercial or production activity
Commercial spaces by and large are grossly over lit resulting in wasteful use of energy. The over bright atmosphere also adversely affects the productivity of the employees. Studies have estimated a 5-10% increase in productivity with proper lighting. Lutron Eco System and Quantum offer remote control so individuals can adjust the lighting above their work space. Radio Touch and Grafix Eye QS controls are for classrooms and meeting rooms. Lurton controls allow people to adjust lighting for different tasks, from cubicles to offices and conference rooms.
The lighting bill for a regular office is about 40% of the total energy usage and very often it is possible to significantly reduce this. Savings can be increased with the installation of an automatic shading system. Lutron introduced a total light and shading automated control system in the New York Times building which resulted in a $600,000 per annum savings.
The latest Quantum type systems controls the lighting throughout the day according to the natural light available. The typical lighting cycle will control the light in such a manner, that you will have full strength light in the morning, and this will get dimmer through the morning as the natural light increases, and will get stronger in the afternoon and as dusk approaches. The system can also be adjusted for lighting up dark areas by putting those areas on a separate system and programming those areas so that the dimmer there is lower than the main areas.
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 glare problem is more intense for east, south and west facing windows in the winter when the sun is low in the sky, and controlling the glare is very important for the workforce. Hence if the chosen system also controls shading, then the temperature in the room can be controlled reducing the level of air conditioning, and also reducing the glare from direct sunlight. These systems are wireless and can be set up from a central, local or handheld control and all switches, controls and dimers can be fitted into the existing system. In this manner huge amount of Energy savings can be achieved in the workplace by investing in automated lighting products. Convert to an automated lighting system today and stop wasting PRECIOUS Energy!
Lighting in the Home
Lighting accounts for 20% of a home’s electricity bill. However there are simple things you can do with light control that will lower your energy bills and make your home more Energy Efficient. By replacing one standard light switch with a Lutron dimmer you can achieve an annual savings of $30.
With the use of Sivoia QS precision controlled shades you can minimize glare and solar heat resulting in reduced heating and cooling costs. You also get instant privacy.
Elements of Comfort:
Lutron and Quantum also offer Lighting Control systems which enable you to personalize a light control system to recall favorite settings that enables you to easily transform the light that surrounds you.
Optimizing daylight and electric light saves energy and creates a productive comfortable environment both at home and in the workplace.
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James Vasanth writes a blog on eInterativeHomes, about Home Theater, Lighting Control and connecting the dots between online and offline.
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