The concept of lighting automation is
relatively new in Kerala, principally in the sphere of home lighting automation
and considering the existing scenario of power generation deficiencies across
the state and the heavy dependence on the yearly monsoon’s ability to replenish
the required water resources, it is a utility that couldn’t have come sooner.
Contrary to popular belief, home automation and especially lighting automation,
doesn’t necessarily involve a wildly expensive investment and in the course of
its’ functioning usually leads to high savings by reducing power consumption.
Home automation is a multibillion dollar
industry worldwide and an immersive hobby for millions of proud homeowners
across the globe. So what is home automation? It is the utilization of
automated switches and like circuit controls to control basic functions in your
home such as automatically opening gates when you drive up to them, remotely
operating sprinklers around your garden (or setting them on a daily operating
schedule), etc.
Lighting automation is usually the first
step taken toward automating one’s home and arguably the single aspect of
automation that leads to the biggest savings on power. Basic lighting
automation involves installing automated switches and dimmers that allow you to
control the lights remotely or even set the lights to a schedule by controlling
them through timer switches. The use of dimmers brings in a new dimension to
lighting control by giving you control of the brightness levels. The switches
and dimmers can be controlled with the use of a touch panel remote. In the
early days of automation, the touch panel remote was a major component of the
cost involved in automating one’s home but now, with the proliferation of touch
screen technology in the form of smart phones and tablets the remote functions
can be transferred to one’s smart phone/tablet, thus eliminating the need and
the cost of a specialized remote.
It is common for customers newly adopting
home automation to initially start by automating only a single component, most
commonly the lighting component and sometimes even in a single area, depending
on the construction of your house. Note however, that availing automation will
not involve any modifications on the basic structure. Going ahead from the
basic automations, one can avail of occupancy sensors and photocells to
optimize lighting conditions throughout the house. In Kerala, where using power
units above a certain limit leads to being billed at a higher rate per unit, turning
off lights that are not in use becomes obligatory whether one is inclined to doing so or not.
This can become quite the haggle when it involves young children and senile or
differently abled individuals. Installing an occupancy sensor with the
automation switch ensures that light is switched on only when there is a person
present in the room; it automatically switches itself off when the room is
empty. Click here to know more information about Lighting Automation in Kerala.
Given the climatic conditions of Kerala,
and the nature of the southwest monsoon the availability of natural lighting
through the year is highly unpredictable. Every time it rains, the sky darkens
and blocks out sunlight. Turning on a bulb at full power can create too much
light, and a lot of it may go unwanted but a dimmer can make the best use of
available light by complementing natural light with the right brightness. A
photocell monitors light levels and can control the levels in your dimmer to
maintain an optimum level of light in changing conditions of natural light – this includes the transition of day to night
and vice versa and variations brought by cloudiness – with the most efficient
use of power. Photocells can also be used advantageously to control outdoor
lights such as patio and porch lights which generally remain lighted throughout
the night or up until a certain hour at night. Another aspect of lighting
automation involves the manipulation of curtains and blinds to utilize natural
light in the best possible way. Controllers used to adjust blinds and curtains
can be controlled by remote or be configured to work automatically, taking into
account such conditions as natural light availability, seasonal temperature
variations, time of day, etc.
Scene lighting suits the function of home
lighting quite well, particularly when including outdoor and garden lighting in
the mix. Scene lighting makes use of presets to turn on a selection of lights
and turn off other pre-selected lights either completely or to a certain level
of brightness to create mood lighting. You can also pre-program a set of entry
lights to be remotely switched on when you drive into your home.
Lighting automation, like other facets of
home automation isn’t necessarily a one step process. One can always opt to
adopt automation in steps or limit them to certain areas where they will be
most useful. When it comes to automation, opting to take the scenic route
enables you to familiarize yourself with the technology without being
overwhelmed and allows you to determine which features you would like to
install and where they should be to fit your needs the best. Lighting
automation in Kerala and across the world is an ever evolving field and new
technologies are introduced all the time; for this reason, it is sagacious to
proceed without haste and enjoy your home improvements as and when you decide
to make them. Follow the link for more details: http://gadgeonlifestyle.com/
