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POWERING DOWN










            LIGHTING: MORE INTENSE, AT LESS EXPENSE


            New fixtures and better LED technology make lighting upgrades easy.
                       HEN  YOU  TRAVEL  OUTSIDE  THE  U.S. ,     But according to Internet of Things experts, the ca-
                       you often encounter yesterday’s lighting:   pabilities of sensors will continue to grow. According
                       incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.   to Sensorsmag.com, there is something called the “IoT
                       We say “yesterday’s” because there’s really   Sensor Information Hierarchy.”
            W no good excuse for not switching every              They rank sensors in the following order of increas-
            lamp in every home to LED lighting. It’s up to 10 times   ing information usefulness:
            more e‘cient than incandescent bulbs (which are now    Raw data
            phased out in most of the U.S. anyhow), and about five    Motion detection
            times more e‘cient than compact fluorescents (CFLs).    Activity monitoring
            LED lighting also does not have the toxicity problem of    Context awareness
            CFLs, which contain dangerous mercury.                 Intent prediction
                                                                  How does this sensor “intelligence” relate to light-
            SMART SENSORS                                       ing? Smart and programmable sensors can actually
            Another innovation that’s making lighting more ef-  “learn” behaviors. When tied to lighting and other
            ficient is the growing pantheon of sensors. We’re all   household electronics, they can dim the lights auto-
            familiar with occupancy sensors, which have been    matically at certain times, or brighten them to cor -
            used in airports and o‘ce buildings for many years   respond with certain household tasks. By responding
            to turn lights on and off. Newer versions of sensors   with the specific lighting application you need, in a
            are not only more affordable, but more flexible. They   specific room, they can power down other spaces
            are designed to operate lights in specific scenarios and   and optimize energy use.
            turn them off when conditions change.























                                                                            Watchdog. Smart sensors operate many
                                                                            systems in the background.



            LED invasion. LED bulbs (left) have made incandescent and compact
            fluorescent lighting obsolete in less than a decade.


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