MH Controls Corner: Luminaire-Level Lighting Controls

We all know that we have passed the tipping point, and the vast majority of new light fixtures sold have a Light Emitting Diode (LED) light source. These fixtures are electronic. Since we have electronics in every fixture, adding additional features is just a matter of some additional engineering to the electronics that now create the light we use. When it comes to lighting, we are in an age where we have more technologies than are being used. As someone once told me, there are a wide variety of different technologies out there just waiting for an application in our light fixtures. With all these technologies available, and electronics within our fixtures, it is not hard to envision that intelligent lighting controls will soon reside in most fixtures. It just doesn’t make sense in the long run to have separate devices outside of the fixtures that are doing the control.

A good overview to the state of Luminaire-Level Lighting Controls (LLLC) can be found here.

It is important to note that the 2018 version of the IECC will start to be adopted in Colorado and Denver in July of this year. This code requires open offices to have an occupancy sensing zone for every 600 square feet of floor space. It will be challenging and expensive to meet this requirement any other way than with LLLCs. Future controls corner articles will dive deeper into the state of LLLCs and best practices for design and installation.

Don’t hesitate to contact the controls team at MH for further information about LLLCs, or any other controls-related inquiries. And remember, whenever you have a technical controls question on any project or application, simply email controls@mhlighting.com. This email address is monitored by our entire controls team. During our normal business hours, we are committed to a four-hour response time for all emails sent to this email address!

This article was written by Clint Conley, our Lighting Controls Department Manager. Clint can be reached at 720.904.8554 or clint@mhlighting.com.