We are in the process of retrofitting our building systems and lighting is first on the directors list. We are going to bring it above California Title 24 standards, which means lighting level sensors, dimmable fixtures (1 to 10 volt), occupancy/vacancy sensors, timers.
Current high end lighting controls do not play well with other building automation systems, which is why I am wondering if anyone has used Opto22 products for their advanced lighting controls. If so, could you give me some feedback on advantages/disadvantages you found with using these controllers vs the big name brands?
I have not used Opto22 products yet, but I attended the Opto22 class about 2 years ago and have been involved with controls for almost 20 years.
Hi mike
i have dabbled in this with Opto 22 gear. A while ago we were assigned a task of engineering out a c-bus lighting system due to the overwhelming cost of installation. It was for a multi-storey medical facility. There was sensor control as well as local scene control for meeting rooms. Daylight harvesting was also required but we managed to find a sensor that would handle that function autonomously.
The design was based on the nessecity to eliminate 100’s of metres of cable required for the c-bus system. So we purchase some Adam brand simple digital I/O that has a serial interface. 16 inputs and 8 outputs fairly cheap to. Serial comms was easy as they had the protocol for you to work with. So all sensors were wired to the inputs, outputs to circuit relays. Inputs were used for hvac functions while the outputs controlled the light circuits. These were more for a security function. Hallways and external lights etc… So a time clock schedule was used for these. There were 2-3 of these on each floor looped on a 485 serial bus. So a chart would go around and read/write as required. Works well.
the meeting rooms were based on a Dali lighting interface. We used some osram Dali ballasts that were linked to a g-72 touch panel via a tridonic sci-2 serial interface. I got the serial protocol for tridonic and wrote a library interface for the g-72 which could dim, turn on, turn off, assign groups, remove groups etc… Works really well. You can then use a standard Dali lighting program to assign fitting addresses, groups and scences as required and then use the touch interface to do the required funtions.
As far as the over all savings, I don’t know the exact figure but it was enough to get it installed. If I was to do it again I’d probably use the Opto 22 lighting interfaces
i hope this helps
nick
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the illuminating post! :eek:
Just to clarify, when you say: “I’d probably use the Opto 22 lighting interfaces,” you’re talking about the LED Dimmmer, yes?
Thanks,
Mary
