LIGHTING
THE WORLD OF WIRELESS LIGHTING BY PRIME LIGHT What is Wireless Lighting?
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s the world becomes more and more connected, wireless lighting controls are the natural evolution of both lighting and building control systems by offering further functionality whilst removing the need for specialist installation and commissioning engineers, quicker install times and full flexibility to the customer on how the system operates moving forwards by making recommissioning extremely simple from a tablet or handheld device. Wireless lighting controls are the natural evolution of both lighting and building control systems by offering further functionality whilst removing the need for specialist installation and commissioning engineers, quicker install times and full flexibility to the customer on how the system operates moving forwards by making recommissioning extremely simple from a tablet or handheld device. All wireless controls systems will work slightly differently in the fact that they will use different wireless protocols (the frequency on which they transmit their messages/data and
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the hardware solutions that are used. What is common amongst nearly all systems is that the smart node/control device which is the brain of the system sits either integral or remote behind the luminaire & is hard wired direct to the driver b then communicates between each other wirelessly using the chosen protocol for that system. As there is no wiring between luminaires, fittings can usually be wired with three core cable only (DALI luminaires required), including emergency fittings. This is due to the system never requiring the power to be switched as you would with a traditional wall switch as this is all done wirelessly. PIRs and wall switches broadcast wireless messages direct to the control node which then can dim the fitting to 0% instead of switching the mains input. Traditional control systems have worked by either having local PIRs wired between luminaires or a central control PC that is wired throughout a building to control DALI luminaires. The major downside to both options is that they require additional wiring if none is in place already (retrofit) or if used in a
ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • JUNE 2022
new build the owner is then restricted to the hard-wiring layout initially installed unless they pay for a specialist engineer to recommission the system. Wireless lighting controls also enable data collection on the luminaire such as driver status, emergency status, temperature, burn hours and other analytic data, from a maintenance point of view means that you can have full visibility over your system, its status (is it working, dimming when it should be, energy consumption etc.) All of this can improve maintenance, and efficiency of the building and a safer building where failures are fixed immediately. In summary what wireless controls offer the market is a lower overall cost solution that offers more flexibility and control for the customer that doesn’t require specialists to maintain ongoing. In times when energy prices are soaring and people are looking for ways to reduce their energy bills commercially, wireless is the perfect solution. Tel: 020 8968 2000 Email: sales@primelight.co.uk https://primelight.co.uk/prime-teq