Dear Reader:

An important feature on many lighting controls systems is the ability to gradually ramp up the amount of lumen output of a fixture when a person enters a work space area, rather than a hard, harsh jump to ‘On’. Conversely, the use of this as a strategy might be deployed on the back end too – fading down when a person leaves that area, instead of going immediately to ‘Off’. Reference California’s Title 24 Reference Guide for ideas.

Case studies on the impact on human beings of ramping up to ‘on’, and fading back down to ‘off’, are impossible to find (or at least we’ve not been able to find any .. send an email or call me if you’re aware of any), but we can tell you it is a real phenomenon, and employees appreciate it when we as lighting contractors concern ourselves with their comfort.

Think about it. Absent the use of this feature, you’d have two diametrically opposite objectives to...