When a house is built or renewed, many different aspects need to be taken into consideration, starting with the shell, going through the technical plants up and ending with outdoor and indoor finishings. Often, the decisions about the lighting system are taken at the very end; this can be a mistake, because a poor illumination reflects on the other choices too, thus impacting the overall quality of the work done.

Nowadays, smart lighting solutions are at hand and can significantly improve the quality of the time spent in the house itself. Therefore, it’s important from the very beginning to consider the needs and the objectives that must be achieved by the lighting system: it’s the light that guarantees the functionality of the environments and creates the right home atmosphere. 

Digital and smart

Digitalization and spreading of networks in houses are also changing the way lighting is controlled. Meanwhile, final users are more and more aware of the benefic effects of a good illumination.

Light is not just about seeing; the smart control puts people at the center of attention and aims at offering unprecedented levels of comfort and well-being. The control experience is enormously wide now: the starting point is always a manual wall command that today can also control intensity, tonality and color. Touch screens offer even more possibilities: thanks to the fact that building automations systems support wi-fi, it is possible not only to use mobile devices, but also integrate voice control through home speakers with vocal assistant, which are nowadays very common in a lot of houses.

Dinamic, personal, multishaped

With all the possibilities offered by Smart Lighting, it would be reductive to only switch lights on and off. For who spends a lot of time at home, dynamic control – allowed today by smart devices – can positively affect bio-rhythms, help stabilize the sleep/wake cycle, create energy and increase good mood: this allows to be more active during the day, improving at the same time the quality of night sleep.

Smart lighting is also paramount to give a personal touch to the house. In fact, every final user has their own needs. This means that both indoor and outdoor environments require a thorough analysis considering not only the destination of use but also the residents’ desires.

In this case, smart also means versatile. Home environments need a basic component that basically sheds a uniform light, often coming from an indirect source, to easily orientate, and a direct component to highlight a specific area. Illuminating well defined zones is very useful to perform various activities under the correct light: for example reading, working, watching television, talking or eating. Today, we can also go beyond that: smart lighting generates well-being and serenity, welcomes, reassures and can donate to the house an extraordinary atmosphere.

Application example

Lighting control and monitoring can be carried out by the Delégo supervision; the server EK-DEL-SRV (A) can be connected via IP to one or more Delégo touch panels (B) or via wi-fi to mobile devices such as smartphones (3) or tablets with the app installed. Delégo also allows to integrate voice commands through home speakers with vocal assistant (4).

Traditional manual commands can also be used in parallel, like for example a 20venti series pushbutton (D); thanks to the proximity sensor, it is possible to detect the passage of people near the device, activating backlight or other bus functions.

In order to perform a real presence detection, the sensor EK-DF2-TP (C) is used. Monochromatic and RGB leds strips can be controlled with the dimmer EK-GC1-TP (E), undimmable lighting devices with actuator EK-FE1-TP (F).

Moreover, the gateway EK-BG1-TP (G) allows to control DALI dimmers (H, I) and other various devices equipped with DALI digital reactors (7). Combination of commands and controls can be easily grouped in scenes and recalled with a single touch from the Delégo supervision.

Scalability

Scalability, a typical feature of Ekinex building control system, allows to start with a basic configuration, both in terms of functionalities and devices, which can be later expanded according to individual needs as well as economic possibilities. The investment is rapidly repaid and it’s protected through time. Thanks to the native support and interoperability of KNX standard, the system is able to integrate also future functions not yet available during the first configuration.