Occupancy and Vacancy Sensors
Occupancy and vacancy sensors can scale from single office space or standalone solution, to networked solutions for whole office buildings. By moving your office space to these sensors you will not only reduce your electric bill but provide your office with the most efficient and safe operating environment.
Occupancy Sensors
Occupancy sensors automatically turn lights on with the detection of motion and turn lights off once the area has been vacated. Occupancy sensors may have options to allow them to manually be overridden when you don’t wish to have the lights come on automatically. There are a variety of sensors designed for different applications and mounting situations from corner sensors to high bay sensors designed for warehouse lighting. We can help you select the appropriate sensor for your business application based on our experience having performed installations in small offices and commercial/industrial settings.
Variety of technologies including:
- Dual – Combination of Ultrasonic (US) and Passive Infrared technologies (PIR)
- Ultrasonic – Using sound waves to activate deactivate sensor
- Passive Infrared – Detects heat to activate sensor
Vacancy Sensors
Vacancy sensors require manual activation of the lights by a person but will automatically turn the lights off when the room is vacated. Wall switches are ideal for small office spaces where you do not have obstructions in line of sight. You need to consider the switch placement in these environments. Dual technology sensors can assist in reducing false positives from airflow changes and cut down on setup time.
Variety of technologies including:
- Ultrasonic – Sound waves are used to detect movement
- Dual – Uses both Ultrasonic (US) and Passive Infrared (PIR)
- PIR – Passive Infrared
What is The Right Sensor To Use?
Choosing the right sensor for the job is largely based on your specific facilities layout. For instance, a large industrial warehouse with rows of products using high bay lighting for each row. In this situation and with the ASHRAE 90.1-2010 code guideline we would likely use a high bay sensor which would mount directly to the lighting fixture. The coverage diameter can be twice the mounting height so if the warehouse ceiling height were 35 ft., then we would be able to provide coverage to 70 ft. of floor space. In this situation, the design goal would be not turning on every light in the warehouse but rather only turning on the lights which are needed as the warehouse employees perform their jobs. A second design goal would be to retrofit the the new T5HO high bay lighting fixtures to the existing electrical supply. If we can retrofit the new technology to the existing layout, then we avoid costly upgrades to the electrical service and infrastructure. There are significant cost savings using this design philosophy.
As you can see from this example there are specific requirements to provide a energy efficient lighting solutions and our highly trained team can guide you every step of the way.