Taking Control of Bedroom Lighting

Julian Churchill, head of lighting controls at Hamilton Litestat

27 May 2010

Installing lighting controls into bedrooms is increasingly popular in luxury properties but it's also filtering through to less high-end homes too. We're finding more and more that property developers are looking to sell homes on the back of aspirational technology that improves the look and functionality of rooms.

The benefits

Intelligent dimming systems such as Hamilton's Digital Mercury can create different atmospheres with light to suit your mood and ours is now compatible with LEDs (as long as the correct driver is used), which are becoming extremely popular. As well as the visual effects, lighting controls can also work on a very practical level, especially in children's bedrooms where low-level lighting might be required to help them sleep.

There are also security benefits of using lighting controls in the bedroom, particularly if you install a master button near the bed whereby all lights across the property can be turned on to full brightness at the touch of a button if you were to suspect a break-in. Our Digital Mercury system can also include a 'holiday mode' which keeps track of your lighting control usage over a period of time and memorises the patterns. There are two buttons on a single plate: one to memorise the settings and one to activate that pattern if you're going away. The lights will then be automated in the sequence that naturally occurs when the house is occupied, as a deterrent to burglars. In this scenario it's important to have the controls in the bedrooms as well as downstairs to give a realistic effect.

Saving energy

There is a relatively simple equation here: the less time you have lights on for and the lower the level of light, the less electricity is used. It's estimated that when a light is dimmed by 75% there is a 60% saving on electricity and the lamp will last more than 20 times as long. Dimming by 50% will save 40% in electricity and lamps will last 20 times as long; when dimmed by 50% the saving is 40% and lamps will last four times as long, and at 25% there is around a 20% electricity saving with lamps lasting twice as long. Using the automated timer elements of a lighting control system also helps to eliminate lights getting left on by accident. All this energy saving is beneficial for the environment as well as financially for the homeowner. What many people don't realise is that it's often quicker and easier for an electrical contractor to install a lighting control system than it is to rewire a standard lighting system, which can lead to a cost saving on labour time.

Hamtilton's Digital Mercury Hamilton's Digital Mercury lighting control system is an intelligent dimming system that may be incorporated on to any of Hamilton's plate finishes. Bespoke plates may also be designed to match a particular interior scheme. It can allow scene setting with easy sequence changes that the system can remember and reproduce at the touch of a button. Control options include rotary (a traditional dial control), momentary (retractive rocker or push button), scene-set (push button illuminated from behind with storable scene-set and infra-red option) and infrared remote control (all options available via a plate with a receiver and fully equipped handset). The settings are unaffected by power failure and the systems can be added to and upgraded at any point to increase the level of sophistication. The controls can be centrally located or split over more than one control pack around the property, the latter option allowing packs to be controlled individually or grouped together depending on the needs of the user. A number of circuits can be controlled via a single plate with multiple control points, making the system less visually intrusive. Digital Mercury is suitable for use on resistive loads, low voltage (including most electronic transformers) fluorescent and LEDs.