A lighting control system consists of a device that controls electric lighting and devices, alone or as part of a daylight harvesting system, for a public, commercial, or residential building or property, or the theater. Lighting control systems are used for working, aesthetic, and security illumination for interior, exterior, and landscape lighting, and theater stage lighting productions. They are often part of sustainable architecture and lighting design for integrated green building energy conservation programs.
Lighting control systems, with an embedded processor or industrial computer device, usually include one or more portable or mounted keypad or touch screen console interfaces, and can include mobile phone operation. These control interfaces allow users the ability to remotely toggle (on-off) power to individual or groups of lights (and ceiling fans and other devices), operate dimmers, and pre-program space lighting levels. A major advantage of a lighting control system over conventional individual switching is the ability to control any light, group of lights, or all lights in a building from a single user interface device. Any light or device can be controlled from any location. This ability to control multiple light sources from a user device allows complex “light scenes” to be created. A room may have multiple scenes available, each one created for different activities in the room. A lighting scene can create dramatic changes in atmosphere, for a residence or the stage, by a simple button press. In landscape design, in addition to landscape lighting, fountain pumps, water spa heating, swimming pool covers, motorized gates, and outdoor fireplace ignition; can be remotely or automatically controlled.
Lighting control systems provide the ability to automatically power a device based on:
• Chronological time (time of day)
• Astronomical time (sunrise/sunset)
• Room or outdoor space occupancy (motion sensors)
• Presence of daylight (lighting costs and energy conservation,and daylight harvesting)
• Alarm conditions
• Program logic (any combination of events)
Chronological time is a specific time of day as pre-set timers use. Astronomical times includes sunrise, sunset, a specific day of the week or days in a month or year. Room occupancy might be determined with motion detectors or RFID tags, and is part of security and energy conservation programs. Artificial lighting energy use can be reduced by automatically dimming and/or switching electric lights in response to the level of daylighting, a technology known as daylight harvesting. Mobile phone operated controls can turn on a basic group of circulation—safety fixtures serving exterior—interior locations on approach, or to preheat a “water spa” in advance of returning. Events might include special fixtures for social occasions and holiday lighting, or overall brightness for cleaning. Alarm conditions can include doors opening and motion detected in a protected area, or manual “panic buttons-all lights on” for occupants sensing a possible intrusion. Program logic can tie all of the above elements together using constructs such as if-then-else statements and logical operators.