How to use lighting controls better in your office

Even though we all know that LED panels can save businesses a lot of money in the long term, there are still ways that you can save even more, by being savvy with the lighting controls in your place of work.

In this article, we look at the main areas within an office environment, where lighting can be saved:

Lighting in your meeting rooms

How often do the meeting rooms at your office get used? Once or twice a week? Less? And how scrupulous are staff about turning the lights off? This is a key area for lighting controls. You could always use occupancy sensors and, if necessary, daylight sensors to make sure there’s only light when we need it. If you want to give your staff a bit more control over the light levels, you can let them override the daylight dimming and switch the lights on – then set them to turn off automatically after the room’s been empty for a few minutes.

Lighting in the corridors and stairways

Here, daylight and occupancy sensors can be used. One thing to bear in mind when using controls in areas like this is that people don’t tend to like having to step into a darkened area and wait for the lights to come on. So think carefully about where you position your sensors so the lights come on ahead of the person. You’ll make your building’s occupants safer and more comfortable.

Lighting in the office toilets

This is another obvious case for controls. Especially because, if a light gets left on in a toilet, no-one’s going to see it from outside to turn it off. A simple PIR sensor will ensure that the lights are only on when there’s someone there. But make sure you allow a generous time before turning the lights off, so you don’t plunge people into darkness just as they are reaching for the loo roll!

Lighting by the windows

By zoning your LED panel lights into groups you can dim just the ones that are near the windows, and leave the people at the other end of the office with full artificial light. Multiple sensors will tell you exactly how much light is in a particular area, or you can use fewer sensors and alter the dimming patterns of the luminaires according to how far they are from the window.