A room’s lighting is one of the first things you notice when you enter the space. Too much lighting can be uncomfortable. Not enough lighting can put a strain on the eyes. Lighting Control Systems are designed to provide the right amount of light where and when it is needed. Properly lighting your home or business not only enhances the user experience, but increases safety and saves energy. One of the major advantages of a Lighting Control System over stand-alone lighting controls or conventional manual switching is the ability to control individual lights or groups of lights from a single user interface device. This ability to control multiple light sources from a user device allows custom lighting scenes to be created for different activities in that room.

 

 

1. Eliminate "Wall-Clutter":
Have you ever noticed how many light switches it takes to control all of the lights in the house? There are Living Room and Kitchens that are overpopulated with light switches which can be confusing and ugly. You can consolidate most of these primitive switches by replacing them with one keypad that not only provides different ways to control all of the lights in the interior or exterior spaces but creates a nice clean look on your walls throughout your home.

2. Scene Selection:
Press the “ROMANTIC” button to set all the lights in the house to just the right mood for date night. Press "PLAY" to watch your movie and have all the lights automatically dim. Press "PAUSE" to grab more popcorn and the lights will automatically brighten to light your path. Enhance the experience and safety with the control of dimming lights throughout your home to match the mood of the event. Create safe navigation through your home. No need to walk from room to room to control each light. Press a button to illuminate a pathway from your bedroom to move easily and safely throughout your home at night.

3. One-Button Control:
With the ability to program an unlimited number of scenes for all the spaces in your home, imagine hitting a "GOODNIGHT" button and knowing that every light in the house is turned off. When you leave for the day, simply press “AWAY” and conveniently leave your home exactly as you like it – all lights off, all lights on, or anywhere in between. Use the “VACATION” scene to replay your daily routine from your last 2 weeks – turning the lights on and off, raising and lowering the shades – as if you were still home.

4. Dimming Lights:
The best way to control the lighting in a room is by using a dimmer light switch. It will allow you to adjust the lighting to the perfect setting for your children to play safely, get into your favorite book or even help you wake up a little easier. This controls the brightness of a lighting fixture, allowing it to fade up brighter or down to a lower level. Installing a dimmer switch is one of the easiest ways you can save energy. If you dim an incandescent, halogen, or xenon bulb by 25 percent, you'll save 20 percent on the cost of electricity, and you'll extend the life of the lamp (it will last 6 years on average).

5. LED Lights:
Not many manufacturers can dim down to 1% without flickering. Most can only dim down to 10% or 15% brightness before they start flickering, which is still very bright. Let us show you how our Lutron solution can dim LED bulbs down to 1% similar to incandescent bulbs. LEDs use an average 10 times less power (watts) than Incandescent Lights and have a much longer average life span of 50,000 hours. LED light bulbs are energy efficient by design, but you want to explore dimming LEDs for the same reason you control any light source -- to maximize energy savings, extend system life, enhance flexibility, increase productivity, and provide a safe, comfortable environment for everyone sharing the spaces. With a system that can dim all the lights in your home you will not only be saving energy but also extending the life of the bulbs – saving time and money.

6. Exterior Lighting:
The right lighting control system will know when to turn on and off your landscape lighting based on the time the sun rises or sets. There are also security and vacation modes in addition to manual options to ensure you exterior lights are being controlled as easily as the interior ones. 

Outdoor lighting, which includes parking garage lighting, is one of the most overlooked areas during a lighting upgrade, experts say. It's a significant missed opportunity, because it can provide energy savings and operating cost reductions. Outside lighting is on at least 12 hours a day, as long as inside lighting. Exterior lighting makes a building secure. It makes people feel secure. Converting exterior and outdoor lighting to a controllable, energy efficient source will save energy when the lights are on and also allow savings when the lighting can be reduced or shut off, based on a schedule, occupancy sensors or available daylight.

Statistics from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), through its enLIGHTen America (www.nemasavesenergy.org) campaign, estimate the use of lighting controls can reduce energy costs by an additional 15 to 80 percent, depending on the property, over and above savings from other lighting upgrades alone. Some estimates assume that with no lighting controls in place, the energy savings from a lighting system upgrade should be a minimum of 30 percent, but if control options are part of a system, it could easily reach 50 percent. To find out how much money you could save using a dimmer visit Lutron's energy saving calculator to see how much you can save at home and work.

8. Mobile Control:
Have you ever sat down to watch a movie and remembered you left the light on in the bathroom? Don't worry about getting up - our Lighting Control Systems allow you to control the lights wherever you are with your Android or iOS device. 

9. Vacancy Sensors:
Never again have lights on in an empty room. A lighting control system can prevent this from happening by using a vacancy sensor that will automatically shut the lights off when a room is vacant. Have the lights automatically turn on in closets, bathrooms, garage, etc by having an occupancy sensor installed.

10. Home Automation:
Seamlessly integrate technology into your home. Lighting Control Systems can combine with audio, video, security, and HVAC. From simple incorporation with a single system to sophisticated high-level integration, controls can work reliably and intuitively with other systems in your home. Enjoy the safety and security of advanced wireless lighting control. Create a safe path of light to, through, and around your home. Connect your security system to your lighting system for an added level of assurance. Add automated shades to create privacy or protect valuable furnishings. For additional control, you can add audio and video controls to your lighting keypads to further increase automation throughout your home.

A Lighting Control System has been known to create emotion, affect happiness and change stress levels. Do not underestimate the power of Lighting Control by just relying on a switch, when there are so many more options than just ON & OFF! Stay tuned for next month's Blog, where we dive into the most popular keypad buttons that put you in control of Audio, Video, Lighting, Shades, Security and much more!

To learn more about the advantages of Lighting Control Systems for your home or business please contact us for our free consultation with expert recommendations.