Smart Lighting; what is it & how it works?
Lighting is the science and engineering of the application of light in a planned and well-designed manner so as to solve a practical problem or to achieve a certain aesthetic purpose.
It could deal with the design and tuning of artificial lamps as well as with the optimization of natural lighting by optical means. Ambient lighting of indoor spaces is an integral part of interior design and is usually achieved using artificial lighting setups. Devices called lamps, that convert electrical energy into light are used to achieve these ends. These devices are portable, replaceable and are therefore expected to be reasonably priced.
Traditionally, lamps were rated, advertised and marketed based solely on their power consumption, expressed in Watts. However, with the expansion of lighting technology beyond the traditional incandescent light bulbs, this system of rating was eliminated due to one main reason, it’s lack of equivalence to the amount of light produced. The scenario of a 60 Watt incandescent bulb producing as much light as a 13 Watt compact fluorescent lamp pretty much sums it. This is because the compact fluorescent lamp has a higher ability to convert electrical energy to light. And this makes the Wattage rating system irrelevant. In order to put an end to this commotion, lighting companies started rating lamps in terms of lumens, which only quantifies the visible light emitted by the lamps and excludes all UV and IR radiations emitted.
There are several features that separate a smart lamp from a regular lamp. They can however be reduced into three classifying features. The classifying feature that separates smart lights from regular lights is their added functionality of wireless operation. Several or all features of these lights such as dimming and color control can be performed without installing physical switches. Their color, brightness and intensity can be controlled wirelessly and remotely using a computer or a smart phone.
These lights are connected to the internet and can therefore be controlled wirelessly from any part of the world using a smart phone application or a computer. This also means that the status of the light can be monitored wirelessly.
This added feature of cloud connectivity plays a major role in customer care services wherein the manufacturers can test and debug the lamp remotely whenever the customer begins to face difficulties with the lamp.
These lamps are manufactured keeping end user customization and programmability in mind. The end user can vary an array of factors such as color and brightness that would help set the right ambiance for every occasion. These lamps also come with built-in scheduling features. This enables the user schedule the activities of the lamp. This means that you can schedule the lamp so as to turn on at a particular time every day so that you come home to a lit house after work.
This automates interior lighting and does not only save time and effort but also puts some of that money back in your pocket.
