TechStyle

Implementing an effective lighting control system

Img_3286_final_1200x800

Many home owners who have had the foresight to consider an electronic lighting control system are often under sold on the full potential of the system. 

As a result, the installed lighting control system is nothing more than an expensive dimming system that turns lights on and off.

Unsuspectingly, lighting control systems get a bad rap by building stakeholders as their value cannot be seen and therefore not justified in future construction.

The inefficiencies of a poorly implemented lighting control system is often a reflection of the skills of the integrator or electrician that specified and installed it.

In Australia, wholesale distribution channels typically allow electricians to purchase electronic lighting control systems with minimal knowledge and training. Systems are then sold to home owners with the promise of a fully functional integrated system.

As with all things, in particular with construction, you get what you pay for.

A traditional 'man-in-a-van' small operation electrician may well offer to install a relatively inexpensive system, but an ineffective lighting control system is worthless without thorough and expert design, consultation, commissioning and programming.

As skilful and experienced an electrician may be with electrical systems, they may not have the skills and wider knowledge to effectively provide a high level of integration with other systems.

A modern lighting control system needs to be designed with a vision of integrating it with other electronic building systems.

The flexibility of a modern lighting control system allows any lighting circuit to be controlled by any electronic wall switch. A well designed system will be more efficient with how residents will operate lights and will typically implement a design that uses less wall switches together with a selection of sensors for automatic operation.

A well designed lighting control system should seamlessly integrate with other electronic building systems and provide unsurpassed levels of convenience and energy management.

A good integrator will be recognised by their industry for the quality of their projects. They should be able to provide detailed project case studies that identify project requirements and how technologies were effectively implemented to achieve the desired level of functionality.

For the best advice, engage a specialist such as CEDIA certified integrator who has experience in designing and installing electronic systems.

The real value of the iPad

With the release of the new Apple iPad 2, I have seen media outlets congratulating it and others dismissing it. 

Many consumers, professionals and media just don't get the whole concept of the iPad or for that matter, any other Apple's portable devices.

For almost ten years, consumers have become conditioned to Apple's offerings of portable entertainment in the form of the iPod. The iPod has revolutionised the way we listen to music with many consumers owning multiple models, past and present. Almost everyone owns an iPod, and the iPhone and iPad being one of the most desirable electronic devices ever.

Unbeknown to many, Apple has created an almost complete multimedia eco-system enabling consumers to view and listen to music, podcasts, video, television, movies and pictures on a range of devices.

Devices that form the game changing multi media eco-system include Apple Mac computers, MacBook laptops, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and the glue that hold the whole system together - Apple iTunes and MobileMe.

With each and every iPod being synchronised with Apple iTunes, consumers use the software to manage all of their media from either a Mac or Windows computer. iTunes originally provided users with a method of storing digital music from CDs and later provided the most used online store to purchase and download digital media content and applications.

Media content can be easily shared to third party stereo systems and televisions with products such as Apple TV and Airport Express. Wireless synchronising of email, calendars, address book, bookmarks and notes is provided via the MobileMe internet cloud-based service which further enhances the Apple eco-system.

A vast library of applications is provided by developers and are downloaded via the iTune store. Most applications are compatible for use on any Apple mobile device including the iPhone and iPad.

The Apple iOS operating system and touch screen interface is extremely intuitive and widely copied by competitors to the point where almost all manufacturers have touch screen based user interfaces.

The once accustomed cursor controlled by a mouse is replaced by intuitive touch and other gestures. The now simple act of swiping and pinching has changed the way we interact with devices. Primitive touch screen tablets by others still require a finger or stylus to move a curser and tap he screen instead of using a mouse or trackpad.

Apple has effectively created a new category of product with the iPad that will see competitors release products that will without doubt provide higher specifications and greater connectivity.

Other devices will notably stand out as standalone devices but will not form a part of the all-enveloping multimedia eco-system that Apple has changed the game with. As a standalone product, the iPad may be just another irrelevant device that could be considered as a fad. The true beauty and magic of the iPad (and for that matter, the iPhone, iPod etc.) is the way it seamless integrates with other Apple products, devices and services.

The iPad is ultimately just another device that forms a part of an ingenious multimedia eco-system that allows consumers to view, share and interact with their media and social networks. The technology developed and effectively implemented by Apple makes the whole experience more enjoyable. The ground-breaking design separates it from it's competitors.

What gets Apple fans so excited is the fact that no other manufacturers has the vision to design products with such beauty that just work to achieve their functionality.
Competitors, detractors and even 'qualified' IT professionals just don't get the whole concept of the complete multimedia eco-system - some do, and really appreciate it.

Love or hate Apple, most consumers now take for granted the simplicity and intuitiveness that Apple has brought to the consumer electronics industry.

Throw away those keys... almost

Dsc08244_1200x800

For years we not only accept central locking in our cars, we demand it.

How convienient is car central locking? We can unlock the car from metres away and just open the door when we approach it.

Why do we not demand the same convienience with the home? The technology has been available for many years with a range of keyless options.

In the corporate world keyless access has been available for decades. Swipe cards enable employees to access lifts between floors, car parking and doors. Staff movement in, out and around a building can be monitored if required.

For residential homes, cost has been the major factor against the concept becoming mainstream. With outlay costs now being lower and a greater range of products available, keyless access systems can now be considered for any home.

Incorporating the keyless access systems into new home construction is much easier and less costly than retro-fitting into an existing home, however, new products incorporating wireless technologies do make the installation less complicated.

The required hardware components can be expertly fitted within the door furniture with cables and wiring discreetly installed within the frame construction. Integration with an advanced security system provides a level of convieniced that can only be experienced.

Windows and skylights can automatically open and close if the appropriate window furnishing are specified. Motorised blinds and curtains provide an additional level of privacy and convenience.

Inexpensive radio frequency keychain fobs are familiar to most people and can contain RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that allow 'swiping' against a reader for access. 

A single button press from a remote keychain fob can disarm the alarm system and unlock the home. With a modern home automation system other events can be activated similtanously to enable lights, heating and cooling, blinds and other devices to operate automatically.

Likewise, the home can be armed by pressing another button on the keychain fob ensuring that all doors and windows are locked behind you as you leave.

Attractive keypads allow keyless access by requiring the resident to enter a unique number are an alternate for active home owners who leave their home without keys.

The ultimate keyless access solution biometic readers. Seen by many people as a technology of the future or as a movie prop from a science fiction movie, biometric readers offer the ultimate security and convienience.

With everyone having unique fingerprints, a compact fingerprint scanner allows the user to simple 'swipe' their finger for access. Additional fingers can easily be programmed into the reader for alernate access to different areas of the home and for additional users.

Advanced devices such as iris scanners are available but their cost and specific installation requirements may be prohibitive. For this reason iris scanners are generally utilised only in extremely high security projects.

Together with a well designed home automation system, keyless entry can almost be taken for granted by the home owner just as we do with our motor vehicles as one of the most used modern convieniences of a home.

Energy Management and the Smart Home

Home automation and energy management really go hand-in-hand.

In order to really lower energy and resource consumption and therefore lower our bills, we need to know exactly how much energy and resources we consume. To manage consumption, we need to know when, where and what and is consuming electricity, gas and water.

Only with a smart home can you truly monitor and manage energy and resource consumption. A smart home integrates all your electronic and electrical systems to provide a level of home automation.

With a well designed smart home lighting control and power systems are controlled by a series of dimmer and relay modules that are networked together from a central location. 

Various sensors can be located throughout and around the house that can monitor movement, ambient light, moisture and other environmental factors. Schedules and scenes are programmed to enable particluar lights and power circuits to operate only when neccessary. 

With the integration of lights and power together with sensors, energy management unknowingly occurs. Lights need only turn on when somebody is in a room, during particular times of the day with the automation system knowing exactly the local seasons and even daylight savings. A smart home will also turn off lights when they are not required.

The addition of an advanced security system adds to the intelligence of the home. Being connected and integrated with the electronic lighting control system allows the home to know when residents are home and away or even on holidays for an extended time.

By disarming the alarm system the home automation system can establish the time of day and what lights need to be turned on at a particular intensity. For safety and peace of mind, lights can automatically turn on when unwanted movement is detected and alert the homeowner or security company of any breach.

When leaving the home, arming the alarm system ensure any lights or appliances that may be turned on, turn off. No more driving down the road wondering if lights or the iron was left on.

Smart metering devices take energy management to a completly new level. With each lighting and power circuit being electronically monitored, the home automation system has the intelligence to know exactly what rooms and areas with the home are using the most electricity.

Advanced systems can easily display this information on an interactive touch screens, mobile phones and tablet devices using informative graphs and charts. At a glance you can see what exactly what devices and rooms are consuming the most power at any given time of the day, month and year.

Only with this information can the home owner really management their energy consumption. With this information, a smart home really becomes smart.

The next step is for the home to monitor and recommend changes to the home's electronic and electrical systems. A smart home will give the home owner options on how they want to use their individual devices and appliances.

The concept of a smart home is available today. Home owners and home builders have many options available to them that will give them great flexibility in the future to control their energy and resource consumption.

Lighten Up

As we strive to conserve energy and lower our consumption costs, consideration needs be given to the type of lights that we install into our homes. Modern lighting has come a long away in the last couple of years.

For the most part of the last century, houses typically had a single 60 watt incandescent globe and batten holder that was surface-mounted on the ceiling of each room. 

In order to create clean ceiling lines, designers specified incandescent globes into recessed fittings. Being recessed, the amount of light was reduced and a larger quantity needed to produce the same surface light.

With modern larger homes and a need for a minimal ceiling-scape, the development of compact halogen downlights provided a brighter light output from a very compact fitting.

A typical room today now had four to six 50 watt compact halogen downlights compared with a single 60 watt incandescent globe of last century. So, in that same sized room we are using five times more electricity. And that's just for a single room! 

You can only imagine how much more electricity home owners are using with larger homes of the twenty-first century.

Today's alternate is LED (light-emitting diode) lighting. In the past LED technology was not suitable for everyday task lighting due to it's inability to produce usable light that was typically very 'blue' in output.

With the development of high efficiency and high power LED lighting, LED has advanced to a point where performance is comparable with traditional hologen downlights but for a fraction of the energy they consume. A quality LED downlight is rated at between 10-16 watts and are available in a range of temperatures (colour warmth) to suit any application.

Unlike older LED technologies, the modern LED downlight is a serious contender for illuminating a home and should be considered for any application that would have traditionally been suitable for halogen downlights.

LED lights are available in many forms, including downlights, compact single globes ideal for highlighting paths and decks, and rope lighting that can easily be concealed within cove ceiling features and within cabinets and joinery.

If we take the example of that same typical room that once contained a single incandescent globe, and then six compact halogen downlights using a total 300 watts of power, the new LED downlights consume a total of less than 100 watts for the same quantity to provide an enormous saving of 300%.

Together with the integration of a smart home automation system, a modern home can definately reap the benefits of consuming less power by giving consideration to new types of lighting.