It sounds almost too good to be true. Yet switch technology and automated systems that need no wiring, use no batteries and are effortless to install and commission are opening up a raft of new opportunities for specifiers by enabling them to create bespoke control systems for building owners and users in home, hotel, offices and other premises.
With the ability to incorporate a range of transmitters from switches, temperature sensors and presence detectors, alongside a range of receivers, the specifier can design a flexible system which can deliver safety, comfort, cost savings and energy efficiency for the building owner or user.
The latest generation of innovative wireless, batteryless, self-powered switching and control technology is enabled by EnOcean technology. EnOcean-based products make use of the energy generated by slight changes in pressure, light levels or temperature to provide self-powered, batteryless and wireless solutions. EnOcean harvests tiny amounts of ambient energy which power a switch transmitter to send an RF signal to the switch receiver which is connected to the lighting circuit, for example – operating lighting at ranges of up to 300 metres within typical buildings.
EnOcean technology is used by over 200 of the world’s leading manufacturers, including MK Electric in its Echo range, so products from these companies can be used together to provide solutions for energy-efficient buildings which are more flexible and cost effective to design, build and operate. You can extend this even further with the KNX Gateway that allows products to communicate with home automation systems based on KNX.
The latest technology can be programmed with multiple settings to include a variety of control parameters such as light dimming, scene setting, presence sensing, temperature control and door position detection. For example, a user may wish to programme scenes that incorporate more than one device – for example turning on a bathroom light also sends a signal to a fan to start automatically two minutes later.
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Hotels, for example, can use the technology to detect presence and control the air-conditioning or heating. Power to the entire hotel room can also be triggered by inserting a card into a wireless card switch transmitter. The hotel is able to control all lighting, heating and cooling by the card switch transmitter, ensuring guests do not leave lighting or air conditioning on when they leave the room.
The hotel is also able to ensure a safe environment; the presence detector can be programmed to turn low level lighting on when a guest enters the room during the hours of darkness. In addition the presence detector can be programmed to turn lighting off, or dim to a low level when no presence is detected in the room but the card switch is still in place.
Door contacts ensure the air conditioning is not in use whilst the balcony doors are open, offering further energy savings. The temperature sensor can also help control energy costs; a reduction in temperature by just two degrees during the hours of sleep can have a big impact on the overall energy bill.
The KNX gateway enables each Echo-controlled hotel room to be linked to a central computer, where a facilities manager can remotely monitor and control each room and the overall system.
Specifiers are finding that the Echo system offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional wiring solutions. For example, considerable labour cost and time savings can be achieved when using wireless solutions such as Echo.
Wireless solutions also offer opportunities for specifiers working in the heritage sector or those carrying out work on extensions where the installation of new cabling is not desirable. Wireless offers the benefits of instant switch installation – resulting in reduced disruption, no invasive chanelling of walls and improved speed and ease of installation.
These were important considerations at the Grade II listed Mond building at Cambridge University, for example, the first educational establishment in the UK to feature the Echo range. The rotunda-based building was designed in the early 1930s by architect HC Hughes as a laboratory for the Russian Nobel Prize winner Leonidovich Kapitza and is one of the best examples of Modernist architecture in Cambridge. Any chasing or wiring in walls was out of the question.
Other wireless solutions will tend to use batteries. Yet, millions of batteries go into UK landfill every year posing a serious environmental risk. With more than 200,000 buildings worldwide now using EnOcean technology, today’s solutions are ensuring a sustainable future.
