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Lighting Control for Home Automation
One of the Most Popular Home Automation Applications
One of the Most Popular Home Automation Applications
Lighting in your home does more than allow you to see at night. It creates a certain
mood, improves safety and security, and makes you home warm and inviting. Lighting
control allows your home's lighting to perform all these functions quickly, easily, and
in some cases, automatically. It opens up many possibilities.
Here are some examples of commonly used, home automation lighting control
scenarios:
1- Set up easily accessed scene presets for certain activities and times of the day.
Entertain, good morning, welcome home, and good night are commonly used lighting
scenes.
2- Enable you to use 1 button press from your car to not only open your garage
door, but have a warmly lit path from your garage to your kitchen to welcome you
home.
3- Know that when you turn on the bathroom light at 2 o'clock in the morning, the
lights should only come on to 20%, then smoothly ramp up to 70% over the next 90
seconds to avoid blinding your still-half-asleep eyes.
4- When you start a movie in your home theater, the lights slowly dim down to the
perfect scene to allow everyone to enjoy the movie. When the movie is over, the
lights slowly come back to normal levels.
5- If your security system detects a fire, a light path is lit to the exits to ensure your
family's safety. To avoid excess glare caused by lights reflecting off smoke, the lights
only come on to 50%.
These are just some examples of the versatility of a lighting control system and how it
can improve your life.
There are two main system architectures employed by lighting control systems;
centralized and distributed. With a distributed system the home is wired
conventionally, with switches and dimmers in the typical locations. The switches are
controlled from a central processor and one or more lighting control keypads or
touch screens.
There are three primary methods used for communicating with the lighting controls
(switches and dimmers) when using a distributed lighting control system. These are:
With a centralized lighting control system, the dimming is actually done at a central
dimming panel. This is usually located in a mechanical room or closet. All the switch
legs from the various lights are run back to the central dimming panel. Lutron
Homeworks Interactive, one of the industry's highest regarded systems actually uses
a combination of the two architectures.
The three principal manufacturers of centralized lighting control systems are:
mood, improves safety and security, and makes you home warm and inviting. Lighting
control allows your home's lighting to perform all these functions quickly, easily, and
in some cases, automatically. It opens up many possibilities.
Here are some examples of commonly used, home automation lighting control
scenarios:
1- Set up easily accessed scene presets for certain activities and times of the day.
Entertain, good morning, welcome home, and good night are commonly used lighting
scenes.
2- Enable you to use 1 button press from your car to not only open your garage
door, but have a warmly lit path from your garage to your kitchen to welcome you
home.
3- Know that when you turn on the bathroom light at 2 o'clock in the morning, the
lights should only come on to 20%, then smoothly ramp up to 70% over the next 90
seconds to avoid blinding your still-half-asleep eyes.
4- When you start a movie in your home theater, the lights slowly dim down to the
perfect scene to allow everyone to enjoy the movie. When the movie is over, the
lights slowly come back to normal levels.
5- If your security system detects a fire, a light path is lit to the exits to ensure your
family's safety. To avoid excess glare caused by lights reflecting off smoke, the lights
only come on to 50%.
These are just some examples of the versatility of a lighting control system and how it
can improve your life.
There are two main system architectures employed by lighting control systems;
centralized and distributed. With a distributed system the home is wired
conventionally, with switches and dimmers in the typical locations. The switches are
controlled from a central processor and one or more lighting control keypads or
touch screens.
There are three primary methods used for communicating with the lighting controls
(switches and dimmers) when using a distributed lighting control system. These are:
- Wireless (RF) - Examples include: Lutron Radio RA, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and
Crestron's infiNET. - Power line carrier - the control signal is actually sent down the existing
electrical power line to the control. The most widely used example is the X-10
system. Another power line control lighting system is from Pulseworx. The
Pulseworx system is more modern and reliable than traditional X-10. - Hardwired. The communication is made via separate, low voltage data wiring to
the lighting controls.
With a centralized lighting control system, the dimming is actually done at a central
dimming panel. This is usually located in a mechanical room or closet. All the switch
legs from the various lights are run back to the central dimming panel. Lutron
Homeworks Interactive, one of the industry's highest regarded systems actually uses
a combination of the two architectures.
The three principal manufacturers of centralized lighting control systems are:
- Lutron
- LiteTouch
- Vantage.
How do modern, solid state lighting dimmers work?
Answer -
With the use of a solid state switch called a triac. This is the key to modern dimming.
A dimmer using triac technology actually turns light on and off very rapidly - 120
times per second, as illustrated below.
The longer the light is ON versus OFF (example A) the bright the light output. By the
same logic, the longer the light is OFF versus ON (example B), the lower the light
output. This is known as varying the “duty cycle”.
Answer -
With the use of a solid state switch called a triac. This is the key to modern dimming.
A dimmer using triac technology actually turns light on and off very rapidly - 120
times per second, as illustrated below.
The longer the light is ON versus OFF (example A) the bright the light output. By the
same logic, the longer the light is OFF versus ON (example B), the lower the light
output. This is known as varying the “duty cycle”.
| Residential | |||||||||||
| Lighting Comparison | |||||||||||
| Using a Preliminary Design | |||||||||||
| Preliminary Design Specification: | |||||||||||
| Location | # of dimmable lighting circuits | wall control keypads | |||||||||
| Hallway | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Kitchen | 6 | ||||||||||
| Nook | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Family Room | 4 | 1 | |||||||||
| View Room | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Dining Room | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Foyer | 3 | 1 | Estimated Cost per Preliminary Design* | ||||||||
| Total | 25 | 7 | Includes product only, except for | ||||||||
| Homeworks 4, which includes LV | |||||||||||
| Type | Advantages | Disadvantages | wiring installation for switches & KPs | ||||||||
| X-10 | >Inexpensive | >Far less reliablilty than desired | $ 2,210.00 | product | |||||||
| Pro | >Easy to install | for a primary system such as lighting | |||||||||
| >Retrofitable | >Many hidden costs for filters, boosters, bridges, etc. | ||||||||||
| >Easy to use programming software | >Very limited number of wall control styles & colors available | ||||||||||
| >Great for hobbiest that likes to tinker | >Limited 2-way communication | ||||||||||
| >Limited 2-way communication | >No electronic LV dimming capability | ||||||||||
| >Up to 1000 watt dimming through 3rd party vendors | >No dedicated processor - relies on automation processor | ||||||||||
| >Scene capable | |||||||||||
| UPB - | >Average in cost for controllable lighting | >Very limited number of wall control styles & colors available | $ 6,908.00 | product | |||||||
| Pulse Worx | >Easy to install | >Crestron integration possible but not widely implemented yet | |||||||||
| >Retrofitable | Programming costs may be higher than others | ||||||||||
| >Far more reliablity than X-10 | but a Crestron Simpl Windows module is | ||||||||||
| >Documented RS-232 interface | being developed by PCS at this time | ||||||||||
| >USB interface | >No dedicated processor - relies on automation processor | ||||||||||
| >2-way communication | |||||||||||
| >Scene capable | |||||||||||
| >No filters or boosters required in most cases | |||||||||||
| >Electronic LV dimming, up to 500W / dimmer | |||||||||||
| >Virtually ulimited number of devices per system | |||||||||||
| >Up to 2.4KW dimming / device using high power devices | |||||||||||
| >Dims electronic LV, HID, flourescent, inc., mag. LV | |||||||||||
| >Programmable fade rates | |||||||||||
| >Made in USA | |||||||||||
| >5 year warrantee | |||||||||||
| Z-Wave | >Inexpensive | >Current absence of wall mounted controllers | $ 1,760.00 | product | |||||||
| >Easy to install | >Crestron integration possible but not widely implemented yet | Note: This does not | |||||||||
| >Retrofitable | programming costs may be higher than others | wall mounted keypads | |||||||||
| >Will be networkable with non-lighting devices | >No dedicated processor - relies on automation processor | as they are unavailable | |||||||||
| >Reliable RF | >No electronic LV dimming | at this time. This will | |||||||||
| >No additional repeaters required | >Limited to 300 watts / dimmer at the present time | probably change soon. | |||||||||
| >2-way communication | >Young technology - could mature into an industry standard | 1 RF remote is included | |||||||||
| >Scene capable | or evaporate into nothing, but is very promising | ||||||||||
| Lutron | >Easy to install | >Only controls up to 32 lights (expandable to 64) | $ 8,400.00 | product | |||||||
| Radio RA | >Retrofitable | >No dedicated processor - relies on automation processor | |||||||||
| >Extremely reliable RF | |||||||||||
| >Proven, extensively implemented technology | |||||||||||
| >2-way communication | |||||||||||
| >Scene capable | |||||||||||
| >Can dim any type of dimmable lighting | |||||||||||
| >Backed by industry leading company | |||||||||||
| with a very long history | |||||||||||
| >Available in a large number of styles and finishes | |||||||||||
| >7 year warrantee | |||||||||||
| >Can integrate window shade controls | |||||||||||
| >Fairly easy intregration with Crestron | |||||||||||
| and other control systems | |||||||||||
| Lutron | >Hybrid hardwired / RF system for benefits of both | >RF expansion is expensive | $ 8,877.00 | product & | |||||||
| Homeworks | technologies - application specific | low voltage | |||||||||
| 4 | >Retrofitable | install labor | |||||||||
| >Extremely reliable RF | |||||||||||
| >Proven, extensively implemented technology | |||||||||||
| >2-way communication | |||||||||||
| >Scene capable | |||||||||||
| >Can dim any type of dimmable lighting | |||||||||||
| >Backed by industry leading company | |||||||||||
| with a very long history | |||||||||||
| >Available in a large number of styles and finishes | |||||||||||
| >7 year warrantee | |||||||||||
| >Can integrate window shade controls | |||||||||||
| >Fairly easy intregration with Crestron | |||||||||||
| and other control systems | |||||||||||
| >Ability to expand the system wirelessly via RF | |||||||||||
| >Dedicated lighting control processor | |||||||||||
| for advanced programing & reliability | |||||||||||
Great Books on Lighting Control
Copyright 2004-7 1 touch movie.com
Home theater and Automation Guide
All rights reserved.
Home theater and Automation Guide
All rights reserved.
Home Automation Lighting Control System Comparison
1 Touch Movie.com
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Insteon controls are just the ticket for that lighting control or home automation project,
and for a limited time, they're even a better value. If you ever plan on such a
project, you should check them out now. Simply replace existing switches and dimmers.
No retrofitting or new wiring is required!
and for a limited time, they're even a better value. If you ever plan on such a
project, you should check them out now. Simply replace existing switches and dimmers.
No retrofitting or new wiring is required!