Lighting Controls

Warehouses are great opportunities for lighting control savings. Relatively high-wattage light fixtures, large building footprints and controlled entry and exit points help make sure that cost saving control strategies can be designed for nearly all warehouses. If you’re undertaking a lighting project, controls should absolutely be part of your plan.  

Private offices, conference and copy rooms, bathrooms -- and even hallways -- provide lighting control opportunities in commercial buildings. These are spaces where lights are frequently left on even after staff has left the area. For areas like hallways, consider step dimming to 30% from 50% of full power to create savings while the space is unoccupied.

Long run hours of exterior lighting systems make them a natural opportunity for lighting controls. Basic time clocks and daylight controls safeguard that exterior lighting is off while the sun is out and the lighting system is not needed. Occupancy sensor or stepped dimming add additional savings by reducing the light output during late night hours.   

Depending on the type of controls installed and the LED equipment purchased, advanced lighting control strategies may be available. One such strategy is called “lighting trim”, which reduces the light output of the lighting system either as a permanent feature of the lighting design or as a feature dependent on given conditions. An example of conditional lighting trim may be if a portion of an office floor is unoccupied. The property manager does not want to turn the lights off due to negative impacts on morale, but the lighting does not need to be set at full output as no actual work is occurring in the space. With an advanced lighting control design, lighting fixtures in the unoccupied space can be scheduled to operate at 30%, 50% or whatever appropriate customized output level to reduce lighting system costs while maintaining office morale.