Archive for January 13th, 2012
Information Regarding Occupancy Sensors
Article by Allaric Saltzman
With the world s population spiraling out of control, energy conservation is now the need of the hour. And out of all the forms of energy we use, electricity is probably one of the things we tend to waste the most with our careless habits. Thankfully, though, the market is coming up with several energy efficient (think Compact Fluorescent Lamps, better known as CFLs) and power saving options. One of the power saving options is an occupancy sensor. These smart sensing devices are often used indoors to control lighting. They can be set up to sense movement in certain areas and help save electricity by turning off lights when they do not register any movement. The lack of movement is perceived as the space being empty, and the lights connected to the sensor are switched off. Let s find out more about occupancy sensors.
For controlling lighting, occupancy sensors can use either infrared technology or acoustic technology. Some sensors even use a combination of the two. The first thing to keep in mind while installing a light sensor is that its range should be carefully chosen and finely adjusted. For instance, a sensor that controls bedroom lighting should not search for motion in the adjoining bathroom. And as you must have gathered that placement can never be ideal, most sensors include a period of delay before turning off the lights. This period is usually 15 minutes, but it can of course be varied according to the user s preferences. So sensors must register zero movement in their range for the whole duration of the delay time before the connected lights are turned off. Again, certain advanced sensors can be programmed to gradually dim the lighting to a minimum brightness, or they can switch the lights off completely at the end of the transition. The sensors that completely switch off lights on detecting zero occupancy and require manual switching on upon return are, however, becoming more popular than the ones with dimming technology. This is because they save more power than the sensors with dimming technology. Moreover, when an occupant returns to a room where the lights were turned off, he or she may decide against turning them on again if there is sufficient daylight.
Though most occupancy sensors are used to control lighting, their utility is by no means confined to them. They are sometimes also used in connection with heating and ventilation devices which can be turned off when the spaces surrounding them are unoccupied.
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PIR and Ultrasonic ceiling mounting occupancy sensors and light sensor