Untitled

[virtualextension-blog]

Why Should You Get Wireless Networks for Lighting Control for Commercial Spaces?

The entire idea of getting wireless networks for lighting control for commercial spaces is help you save more in the long run. Basically a lighting control system is defined as an intelligent network that is based not only on lighting control but it also helps in enhancing the overall communication between different inputs and outputs. All of these are interconnected within the system and also to a comprehensive main unit from where these can be controlled. These systems can be both outdoor and indoor, which makes it a boon for people looking for lucrative commercial lightning solutions.

 These can be used in industrial areas, gardens, or even other commercial set-ups. With these systems, one is able to reduce human effort and also build safety codes that are operable only via certain trusted members. Here’s why wireless network topology works for your commercial space:

 Central and automated control

 One of the biggest advantages of these wireless networks for lighting control for your commercial space would be the automated control benefit it gives you. Unlike earlier times, there is no need to have a dozen managers to handle the automated and efficient systems. These come with specialized sensors to tackle all the tasks that require manual intervention. For example, it has occupancy sensors to check who is in the room. Then there are daylight sensors to reduce or increase light, depending on the time of the day. Furthermore, there are security laser sensors here too that can be connected to these systems for detecting any unusual activities.

 These systems are further set up as per both chronological and astronomical time. So you would also get the exact day, time, week, etc. here with these wireless networks for lighting control. Now this is a crucial aspect in terms of security. If you have light connected to your security cameras, then you can record the happenings in a perfect way. In this reference, astronomical time refers to the approximate time of sunrise or sunset. For both indoor and outdoor commercial spaces, this is crucial and also helps in illuminating the space based on amount of darkness and light.

 Alongside, if you have ample daylight coming in through your windows at your office, then the wireless network for lighting control will reduce or dim the lights. As a result, you will save more power during the day. It would again brighten up or take the light level a notch up, as the sun sets and your room gets darker. You also get the benefit of blending these in with remote access.

 Security alarms

These wireless networks for lighting control work in sync with remote controls that are triggered off as per your settings. These could be on the basis of motion sensing, monitoring through camera, etc., and thus increasing the safety of your home and office.

[virtualextension-blog]

Why Choose Wireless Lighting Control?

Homes and commercial enterprises are getting smarter with wireless lighting controls with smart and luxury finish. Not only are these wireless systems a sensible option in terms of convenience and saving energy, but they also are a perfect safety devices. For instance, if you are away, then you can simply leave the lights on or set them on auto mode to make it appear that you are home.

 Here are some reasons for opting for these wireless lighting controls-

 Smart management

As the name suggests, these lights are all about making life simpler and smarter for your home. For instance, if you want to dim the lights or make them brighter, you don’t have to bother with getting up. There are single touch buttons available to take on the task for you. Another option is auto-responding where when it is evening dim lights switch on automatically. It works on the concept of simple motion sensors that provide illumination along with pepping up the entire ambience.

 Customized and multiple solutions

With these lighting control systems, you also get the benefit of picking customized solutions for your home or office. The idea is that you can manipulate more than just one lighting control. You can incorporate controls for your music system, home theater and other systems into a single remote. So with a tap, your entire home will come alive.

 Saving more energy

Wireless lighting controls also provide you with the benefit of saving more energy. There is almost a 30% reduction when incomes to your utility bills. The load is taken off thanks to LED lights that reduce your energy consumption and also prevents recurring costs. The initial investment may seem to cost you a lot but since these LED bulbs and lights tend to last longer, you are reducing costs for the future.

 Other benefits here include-

 ·   You get a swanky and cool ambience for your home or office, without the worries of handling multiple remotes and switches.

·   The installation process is rather simple and doesn’t require too many intrusive procedures. Also, there is a centralized system now available for you to manage your home illumination needs.

·   There is also in-built software support for enhancing overall functionality

·   These can be set up with ease for both outdoor and indoor installations. In fact, you can manage multiple floors and different spaces with single integrated solutions.

 As homes are getting smarter and office spaces giving more importance to smart solutions, these wireless lighting controls are indeed a boon. On the whole, they are easy to maintain and you can also get them fixed with ease, which means that you save time, energy and also get a functional solution for your home or commercial space.

[virtualextension-blog]

Smart Street Lighting System Integral Part To Creating A “Smart City”

It is not until the sun goes down that many of us truly appreciate the importance of street lighting. But the fact of the matter is that street lighting can consume as much as 40% of a city's energy budget each and every year.  The traditional “legacy” street lights are failure prone and cost a lot to manage and fix, which is why street lighting and how it should be done has become one of the leading considerations for cities worldwide.

  Going Beyond Swapping Bulbs

One tactic which the majority of cities have taken on over the past decade or so is switching old inefficient bulbs for better LED-based lamps.  While this can cut operations by 50% or greater, networking those LED bulbs in a smart street lighting system delivers an even faster return on investment.  In fact, some have estimated that having a smart street lighting system can reduce the payback period from 8 years to 6 years because of remote management capabilities and faster outage response.

  Other City-Wide Applications

Apart from the near-term savings, a network-based street lighting system is the ideal platform for a number of city service,s such as:

 · Traffic lights

· Traffic management

·  Smart parking meters

  Discovering The Energy And Operational Savings

The benefits of deploying a networked smart street lighting system falls into two separate categories:

 a) Energy saving benefits

b) Operational saving benefits

  Energy Saving Benefits

The immediate benefit which many enterprises see are the lower energy costs.  This is delivered through a smart lighting system with a street light controller in the following ways:

 · Reduced wattage. Having LED bulbs in place immediately reduces the amount of energy necessary to provide the same or better quality of light because they are able to operate at a lower wattage than their legacy counterparts

· Dimming capabilities. Because of their high light output, DALI lamps can be dimmed by as much as 50% with little compromise to their light output.  City operators can also schedule lamps to dim in certain circumstances, such as when an area in the middle of the night is unpopulated or during times when traffic is low.

· Reduced burn time. Because these smart street lighting systems have on and off scheduling capabilities, operators can modify the street lighting to coincide with the ever changing sunrise and sunset times.  This reduces the lamp burn time, meaning your lamps will not need to be replaced as frequently.

  Operational Saving Benefits

Apart from not needing to replace the bulbs as often (as mentioned previously), there are a number of other operational benefits that come form a smart street lighting system:

 ·Remote light monitoring and management.  The leading solutions on the market include management software which gives operators complete visibility into all street light operations as well as street light control (i.e. dimming capabilities, on/off schedules, etc.).

· Automatic outage detection. No longer do you need to wait for a resident to report a broken light.  Through this management software you are provided with instant outage notification.

· Proactive maintenance.  The best software on the market can provide you with predictive lighting information, such as alerting operators to lamps which are about to burn out so that replacements can be scheduled and performed.

[virtualextension-blog]

The Argument For Wireless Office Lighting Control

Going “wireless” is the way of the future.  Not being restricted by wires means that we can access data from anywhere and at any time, and being wireless can decrease the chance of there being a disruption in service.

With that said, many professionals in the home and office building industry still say that wired lighting is is the best way to go.  This is partially because many in the industry have been adding wiring to existing office spaces to enhance their office lighting system for decades and it is what they are accustomed to.  But it is partially because wired systems do offer some benefits.

Why People Are Still Choosing “Wired” Systems

Wired office lighting systems are often considered when a new office building is being built and are seldom a consideration for retrofits because of the cost.  The real benefit to wired systems is that these systems are incredibly reliable. Regardless of the material which the wire is passing through, users know that the transmission can always reach from point “A” to point “B” as long as the wire is undamaged and functional.

Wireless Systems Can Be As Reliable

In recent years there have been significant improvements in the wireless lighting industry.  The first wireless systems, RF control systems, are less reliable than a wired system.  But mesh networks, the newest and best form of wireless lighting control, are arguably even more reliable than a wired system.

Consider this: in a mesh system, each device involved is connected to at least two other devices (though they can be connected to more). This means that if one device suffers downtime or is out of operation, the other devices – all of which are constantly communicating with one another – will automatically find the next “best path” for the information being transmitted to reach the device it is intended to reach.

Because it is a wireless system, you do not need to undergo any massive and expensive renovations to add more wiring to your existing system.  These systems are incredibly easy to scale and can grow and shrink with your organization or office space as necessary.

These systems are also far more sophisticated than many wired systems available today.  Most systems include occupation sensors so that lights can be turned on and off based on whether or not anyone is present in the room.  But the best systems include dimming lights, colored lights, and they are easy to add, move and remove.

The Cost Consideration

Wireless systems may appear to be slightly more expensive on paper, but these systems can actually save and make you money.

If you are retrofitting the lighting in your office space, then wireless is the obvious choice as you will not need to undergo expensive wall and ceiling repairs.  But consider the fact that these intuitive lighting systems often offer greater flexibility which can be advantageous to your business.  As one example, having a system which is able to provide better lighting for employees has been proven to increase employee engagement, productivity, and health, therefore increasing business revenues. For more information on Office Lighting Control, visit: http://www.virtual-extension.com/applications/

[virtualextension-blog]

IoT For Lighting Platforms Are More Than Just “Automated Lighting”

It has been forecasted that the market for lighting control devices worldwide will double from 2010 to 2017.  This is partly due to the push for enterprises to reduce their energy consumption to meet the increasing number of stringent energy legislations being imposed upon businesses. But businesses may have other reasons for their interest in lighting control, including reducing their carbon footprint and reducing operational costs.

According to the US Department of Energy, lighting accounts for over one quarter (25.5%) of a commercial building's energy usage. Enterprises have recognized that simply switching off the lights is not an effective way to reduce their energy consumption, and even more are recognizing the merits with a wire-free advanced lighting control platform has to offer.

Poor Lighting Worse Than Lighting Costs

The UK ran a trial of switching off street lighting in the early 1970s which, as expected, did result in an impressive reduction in energy costs.  Unfortunately the trial did produce other negative outcomes, including a 13% increase in vehicle thefts and 65% more burglaries and domestic break-ins.

Having inappropriate lighting in a facility is also a concern.  Not only does this put the safety of employees, customers and clients at risk, but it can also have a negative impact on their productivity, their experience, their health, and their overall sense of well-being.

Switching To LEDs Is Not Enough

Many enterprises have attempted to reduce their energy consumption by switching all lights to energy efficient LED bulbs. But where even greater savings lie is in being able to optimize the light levels of a room to suit the working environment of that particular space.

By incorporating a mesh lighting platform into a facility, users are able to optimize their energy rates and meet the lighting needs of those in a certain space while they are in it.  Through the use of photosensors, these intuitive systems can detect the amount of daylight in a room and adjust the lighting as necessary for that particular space.

But the benefits do not stop there.  Many platforms offer IoT for lighting. Because they operate in a cloud, these lighting systems can be integrated with a variety of other applications, including:

·         Smart metering

·         Security and surveillance

·         Automotive applications

The Right IoT System For Your Needs

IoT extension to lighting provides users with an adaptable and scalable system which is high performance yet cost effective. When looking into a platform for your needs, these are some of the key benefits you should be looking for:

·         The ability to have an unlimited number of Nodes (sensors and luminaires) per Gateway/network

·         The ability to achieve a reliable network within your radius area per single Gateway/network (the best in the industry can reach up to 10kms or over 6 miles)

·         The option of having up to 250 adjacent or co-located networks

·         Nearly unlimited number of non-adjacent networks via channel re-use

·         Low and deterministic latency

·         Wireless lighting control

[virtualextension-blog]

The Push For Intelligent Wireless Street Lighting

Cities across the globe have been working hard at getting a better handle over their street lighting for decades, some with little to no success. The UK tried shutting off their street lights over the winter of 1973 to 1974.  Though they did enjoy a 50% reduction in lighting and saved energy, there were 13% more vehicle thefts and 65% more domestic break-ins.

 Milwaukee performed a similar trial in 1980 and shut off the street lamps for twenty days.  At that time there was a 129% increase in night-time accidents and 173% increase in the number of people injured.

  Street Lighting Cannot Be Turned Off

Those two studies made one fact abundantly clear: cities cannot simply switch off their street lights to save power and reduce CO2 emissions.  Instead what they need is an intelligent industrial lighting control and management system.

  Choosing A Street Lighting System With Universal Control

Community planners are beginning to recognize the many benefits that come with choosing a wireless street lighting system.  One clear benefit is that these systems give communities greater control over their lighting.  These networked systems give communities the ability to save significant amounts of energy as a light will turn on, off, and dim only when one or more pre-programmed values are met.

 Another benefit to choosing a wireless system is that they require significantly less maintenance, resulting in reduced maintenance costs.  But what is perhaps the most attractive and interesting aspect to using these mesh systems is that they provide you with the potential to integrate multiple other intelligent systems.  Unlike ever before, lighting can be controlled based on:

 ·       Traffic light controls

·       Security cameras

·       Environmental sensors

·       Digital signage

·       Electric vehicle charging stations

 Wireless systems which are connected through the cloud allow cities to receive the status of all of their lamps in mere seconds and give cities the opportunity to form large, cost-effective city-wide networks.

  What To Look For In A Platform

To enjoy the full potential of these systems, it is important to look for a platform rather than a closed, proprietary system. The system you choose should be adaptable and open, make use of DALI Luminaires, and should involve the Internet of Things (IoT) to ensure regular and continuous connectivity (E2D connectivity, or Ethernet to DALI).

 Some other features to look for in a platform include:

 ·       The number of Luminaires per single Gateway/network (the best in the industry today can provide up to 16,000 Luminaires per single network)

·       The number of adjacent or co-located networks (to run effectively, most cities will require a minimum of 200 networks)

·       The radius area per each network (the radius area should ideally be around 10kms or 6 miles per network)

 These features and more are what are transforming E2D street lighting platforms into the most cutting edge and cost-effective lighting system for cities today.  If you are looking for a flexible and adaptable network for your city, consider those which offer advanced mesh topology and cloud technology.

 Fore more information, Visit our website:http://www.virtual-extension.com/