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Automatic controls & lighting savings
You may use
controls to turn-off or to reduce lighting to appropriate
levels and get energy savings. These main automatic controls are:
-
Photo-sensors: used to respond to sunlight appearance and
disappearance.
- Timers: used to limit lighting to within certain operating
periods or to turn on lights for short periods.
- Motion sensors: used to either turn on or turn up lights,
whenever somebody appears.
- Dimmers: used to regulate the light output.
Adding photo-sensors, motion sensors, timers and dimmers can
help you save energy by adding light only where and when
necessary.
Photo-sensors
Photo-sensors
react automatically to outdoor daylight levels, allowing lights
to turn off when the sun comes up and to turn on when the sun
disappears.
Timers
Use these
controls to turn lighting on and off when desired: there are
many types of timers, with different possibilities. Common
models allow weekly settings, with different timings every day.
Motion sensors
Motion sensors
are key elements in indoor lighting (in stairwells, closets and
utility rooms, where they can turn the light on or off without
human interference). But they are also excellent options in
outdoor lighting, namely in driveways and pathways.
Incandescent
lights/motion sensors are a common and good option, since
incandescents only have to operate for short periods and are
independent to temperature impact.
Dimmers
Dimmers are
controls used to vary the intensity of the light output, which
may be an interesting feature in both indoor and outdoor
electricity savings.
Be aware, however. New dimmers are devices that turn the switch
on and off very rapidly, causing problems with Compact
Fluorescent Lamps, causing them to burn out quickly. Some
manufacturers have designed special CFLs to deal with this
problem, but those CFLs are more complex and expensive, and do
not work satisfactorily with many dimmers. Present
dimmers work best with incandescent bulbs.
Installing lighting controls
Most of lighting controls are easy to install and if your system
is simple, then their installation is a do-it-yourself job, if
you are comfortable with basic wiring. Just follow the product's
instructions.
See also:
House Lighting Basics
Low-voltage
outdoor lighting kits;
Outdoor solar lighting.
Landscape lighting design
Kitchen lighting
Back to top Low-Voltage Outdoor Lighting
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