Home Automation lighting control is the cornerstone of the home automation industry. Ask a home automation enthusiast what first interested him or her in the technology, and nine out of ten people will say it was to control home lighting. From the first time someone uses the remote control to dim the light across the room, most people are hooked on automated lighting systems.
Home automation is a billion-dollar industry that started with controlling home lighting. Home automation lighting includes controlling lights remotely,controlling lights through timer switches, setting custom light levels and schedules, and controlling multiple lights as a group (scenes).
Dimmer Functions
Dimmers allow you to set the brightness of lights to different levels. Depending on the time of day or the location, lights don’t always need to run at 100% brightness.Home automation wall dimmers, plug-in modules, and lamp bases allow you set brightness at adjustable levels. This saves money on your electric bill, increases bulb lifetime, and customizes your home to your personal preferences.
Home automation dimmers allow for programmable on/off fade times. Conventional lights go to full brightness (or darkness) almost immediately when activated. This harsh transition is difficult on your eyes and takes a moment for your pupils to readjust. Home automation dimmers allow you to set the speed at which your light goes to full power or turns off (known as ramp or fade speed).
Another feature of home automation dimmers is pre-set on levels. Setting a custom brightness level becomes useful when the dimmer can remember your favorite dimmer position. Home automation dimmers are programmable to pre-set levels so the light turns on to the desired brightness every time you use it.
Switch Functions
In home automation jargon, a switch refers to an on/off device. Some lights do not dim well (or at all) such as florescent fixtures. When you want to control one of these lights with home automation technology you have to use a switch (sometimes called a relay). Switches can control one or more lights such as a group or bank of florescent fixtures.
Scene Lighting
Scene programming is particularly useful with home lighting. Using scenes, it is possible to turn several lights on (to various levels) while turning other lights off at the same time. Another way to think of scenes is as mood lighting. For example, to set the stage for a romantic dinner, pressing one button can set the overhead candelabra light at 50% brightness and turn off other lights in the room or vicinity.
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About UPB Technology
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Highly Reliable — The UPB method of communication is 100 ~ 1000 times more reliable than current X-10 technology and 10 ~100 times more reliable than CEBUS or LONWORKS powerline technologies. UPB is 99.9% reliable versus 70%-80% reliability of X-10.* UPB transmits farther (over a mile), is less susceptible to powerline noise and capacitive attenuation (signal reduction) than other technologies for three reasons:
When put on one phase of a home’s two phase power line, the signals are so strong they go out to the street side transformer and are induced on the opposite phase, returning back to the home. Since UPB transmits at a low frequency, it does not affect other powerline devices or appliance/loads. No New Wires – UPB dimmer switches are installed exactly like regular dimmer switches. They connect to a home’s standard wiring. Since no new or special wiring is required, they work great in retrofit applications too. Affordable — UPB dimmer switches can be as affordable as high end non-communicating dimmers. When comparing costs of home upgrades (theater TV, remodeled bath or kitchen) adding lighting automation and control to a room or whole home provides a surprising improvement in quality of life at a comparably low cost. Simplicity – Adding lighting control can be as simple as plugging in dimming modules or replacing dimming switches Pre-Configured Series. Unlike radio frequency (RF) wireless switches, where reliability is proportional to the number of ‘mess-networked’ switches installed, UPB provides reliability and performance anywhere in the home without the need of repeaters. Peer to Peer – No host computer or central controller is necessary for single, point-to-point control or group (lighting scene) control. UPB is a no-host, peer to peer network. Interruption of power, or single point controller/repeater failure, will not affect a stand-alone UPB network. Two Way Communications – Hardware, software and protocol design allows for two-way communication in all products. Status can be confirmed with polling or automatically transmitted upon local/manual load changes. House Separation – Neighbors with UPB will not control each other’s lights. The UPB addressing scheme allows for 250 systems (houses) on each transformer and 250 devices on each system. It incorporates over 64,000 total addresses compared to 256 for conventional X-10. Interaction – UPB communication can be used in the presence of all X-10, CEBus, HomePlug or LonWorks compatible equipment with no interference between either. The UPB technology uses a completely different frequency range than any of the wide-band, narrow-band, or spread spectrum technologies. The physical method of UPB communication is entirely different than the modulation-demodulation techniques of all X-10, CEBus, or LonWorks. Higher Speed – 20 to 40 times the speed of X- 10 in terms of data transmitted. This is equivalent to over ten full commands per second. The average latency of command to action is less than 0.1 second.
* Reliability is defined as the percentage of transmitter/receiver pairs that correctly operate upon initial installation. The UPB test units are randomly installed in the environment typical of the target market. This market is defined as the single-family residential market in the US, homes with a median size of 2500 Sq, Ft. This environment is defined to be the existing base of homes, without any modifications, which means there should be no “fixing” the electrical system of the residence by adding couplers, repeaters or filtering. |
UPB technology provides an inexpensive and reliable solution for residential and commercial powerline communications applications. While other powerline communication technologies exist, none compare to UPB in cost per node, functionality and reliability.
This helps a lot,thank you,I have found Simply Automated to be one of the more solid companies in the lighting control market.
Nice resource checked out the inputs helped me selecting lighting for my home thank u.