Define Needs: Control

Lighting control systems should be designed to minimise unnecessary lighting usage and maximise lamp life.

You should consider whether manual or automatic switching should be used and whether switches should apply to individual luminaires or groups of luminaires. Factors to consider include:

• Presence detection: Automatic switching based on detection of occupancy
  
• Daylight sensing: Automatic switching when a set level of daylight is detected.
  
• Switch management: Using single switches to control large areas of lighting.
  
• Dimming: The facility to dim the output from a lamp.
  
• Constant Lux: Automatic dimming to achieve a constant level of light output under changing natural lighting levels.
  
• Soft start: component to eliminate the current surge when switching a lamp on to prolong lamp life – particularly used with tungsten and fluorescent lamps.
  
• Voltage reduction: extension of lamp life through voltage reduction – particularly used with tungsten filament lamps.