Lighting Control

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Dimmer Switches

OK so you can't use these with most low energy bulbs but they are worth using if you do need to use standard incandescent or halogen bulbs since the dimmer the light the less electricity is being used. Energy saving bulbs are starting to become available which are dimmable although they are still expensive.

Infrared and RF Controlled Switches

Usually used to switch lights and other appliances on and off using a remote control which is either infrared (line of site operation) or RF (through the wall operation). The come either designed to be plugged in to a 13 amp socket or fitted in place of a light switch. Be cautious using these as there seems to be a wide variation of standby power with both types. So far the manufacturers approached have been less than forthcoming about the actual figures.

Passive Infra Red (PIR) Detectors

One area that gave me a few few surprises was automatic lighting control particularly the standby current consumption of some PIR Detectors used on cheap outside floodlights. The consumption on the ones I measured varied between 3W and 8W and it was cost effective to put a time switch in series (consumption 1W) so they were completely isolated during daylight hours. Obviously the more PIRs switched by a time switch the more effective the time switch is at saving electricity.

Light Sensitive Controllers

We only have one of these at present on one outside light with a measured standby consumption of 2W. This was reduced by utilising the time switch already installed to reduce the consumption of PIR detectors. Using a time switch also means the lights can be switched off when they are not needed during the hours of darkness.

Time Switches

The plug in variety of these can be obtained very cheaply and provided you use the electronic type (the ones with an LCD display) do not use very much electricity (1-2 Watts). They are useful for switching on and off automatically items with a high standby power such as outside lights with PIR detectors (you don't need these lights working in daylight).

See the example cost savings for an indication of the savings that can be obtained