Lighting Controls to Incorporate in Your Home's Wiring

Construction & Contractors Blog

How much energy do you waste in your home through the lighting? Well, it is hard to keep track, considering that sometimes you might forget to turn the lights off. Thankfully, you can incorporate lighting controls in your wiring and lighting system to avoid instances where you might mistakenly leave them on. These controls also ensure energy efficiency by allowing lights to be on when they are really needed. Look at the following lighting controls available for use in your home:

Sensor Controls

Sensor controls are used to turn the lights off or on depending on the specific usage needs in question. There are many sensors available in the market.

1.    Photo-sensor lighting controls: In many homes, lots of energy is wasted through outdoor lighting. As you hurry to leave the house for work and other activities, you might hardly remember to switch off your security lights. Photo sensors prevent outdoor lights from functioning during the day, conserving energy in the process. The sensors detect ambient lighting conditions during the day and break the lighting circuit powering your outdoor lighting.

2.    Occupancy sensors: Just as their name implies, occupancy sensors rely on the presence of a person within the living space covered by the lighting. Their function is to detect indoor activity such as people's movement, which is in turn used to trigger a complete circuit to provide light in the room. When the person moves out of that particular room or space, the sensors detect the inactivity and automatically turn off the lights.

Dimmer Controls

Many times, people use up more light than necessary because ordinary wiring doesn't give them the option to adjust the intensity of the light given off by the bulb. Dimmers help you vary indoor lighting, reducing the wattage consumption and output of the bulbs when possible. For instance, you don't need very bright lights when watching television shows. With a dimmer, you can cut down on the intensity of the light to save energy. Note that dimmer controls are available for both incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes.

Timer Controls

Are you certain of the times that you operates your lights? Timer controls can help you control your lighting by switching the lights on or off automatically. For instance, you can set up a regular twelve-hour schedule for your outdoor lighting so that the lights will be switched on and off whether you are home or not.  

For help with implementing any of these ideas, contact a contractor who offers electrical services in your area.

10 May 2017