Secteurs

Gymnasiums

The  Dimonoff Gymnasium solution

Several types of buildings and facilities require high-bay type lighting. Warehouses, arenas, gymnasiums and others are generaly equipped with this type of device. Today, T5HO fluorescent fixtures provide excellent lighting quality similar to the HID lamps procured in the past, in addition to consuming less energy. T5HO fixtures are still devices that consume much energy, a T5HO fixture can have up to 12 tubes of 54W, for a total of 648W, it becomes important to have measures to control these devices by managing lighting  according to occupational requirement. These devices are especially well suited for the implementation of effective control measures. Indeed, the tubes of these fixtures are powered by ballasts that can feed 2 or 4 tubes. We can thus control groups of tubes independently by controling each ballast.

The solution is to install a single Dimonoff relay per fixture to create patterns of lighting. With a fixture of 12 tubes powered by 3 ballast, one can use a 3x3 relay to control each ballast independently to create an scenarios where only 4, 8 or 12 tubes are lit. 

These scenarios can then allow to use the appropriate mode depending on the activities taking place on the premises. In the case of a school gymnasium, mode 8 / 12 could be used for physical education classes when 12/12 mode is used for special events and a mode 4 / 12 could be used during maintenance of the gym. A mode where only some fixtures are lit for security purposes is also available during off ours.

Depending on the application, different modes can be controlled manually via a keypad or automatically via a clock if the schedules are known and stable, or follow the output of a light sensor if the site enjoys a good daylighting. Relays installed in the fixtures are networked either by radio-frequencies or PLC, so they can each receive commands, thus avoiding having to spend money on control wires or worst on rewiring as that would be required with other systems.

Addressable relays are programmed in advance, no startup is required. If the fixtures are new, the relays can be installed at a lower cost directly from the manufacturer of fixtures. In the case of existing fixtures, the relays can be installed outside of the fixture if its easier..

Gymnasium typical connection setup #1

Gymnasium typical connection setup #2

Here are some examples of schools benefitting from this system so far:

Seneca College, Toronto, ON
Blenheim Arena, Blenheim, ON
Perrysburg School, Perrysburg, OH (Automated Building article)
Van Burren, Van Buren, OH
Anthony Wayne High school, Whitehouse, OH

 

Case story : Seneca College Gym (Toronto, ON)

Project by Varilume

In most schools, the room that uses the largest share of energy for lighting is usually the gym. With that in mind, Seneca College decided to change its lighting system so it would me more efficient and energy-wise. In this case, DimOnOff products coupled to T5 fluorescents allowed them to save from 39% to 72% of the energy demand their former lighting system used. All DimOnOff products were installed without having to install any wires, thanks to the powerline technology. 

 

Before

 

After
  • 45 fixtures, 1000W each


  • 45 fixtures, including 12 T5 fluorescent
    each (45 x 648W)
  • 48 510W demand


  • 20 400W demand in standard mode
    (8 fluorescent lit out of 12)
  • 76.5% efficiency


  • 83.1% efficiency
  • On/Off levels only


  • 4 modes available (off, 33%, 66%, 100%)




Ligthing before


Lighting after

 

Three DimOnOff DOO-R-LMDB-2.5 were installed in each of the twelve fixtures. Each relay controls 4 fluorescents, hereby allowing using 0, 4, 8 or all 12 fluorescents as needed. These relays are powered but also communicate through existing power distribution wires. Therefore, installation is rapid, easy and low cost.

 

Using the DimOnOff software, scenarios were programmed in DimOnOff DOO-RT-Key-6 wall keypads so that the users would be able to manually select the desired lighting mode. The saving mode uses only 4 tubes per fixture, the standard mode uses only 8 tubes per fixture, and the full lighting mode (for sport events) uses all 12 tubes per fixture. The wall keypads are powered but also communicate through existing power distribution wires. Therefore, installation is rapid, easy and low cost. By using the lighting mode that really meet their needs, combined with new lighting fixtures, Seneca College managed to save up to 72% of the energy used by their former gym lighting system.

 

The DimOnOff software also allowed creating groups of relay, thus enabling to switch groups in order to use every fluorescent equally. Each group includes 4 tubes of every fixture. Each week, the group that is used for the saving mode (also used the standard and full modes) is switched with the group used only for the full mode (which is rarely used). Therefore, the DimOnOff products, combined with new T5 tubes, allowed extending maintenance period from 9000 hours to 35000 hours. 

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Realisations

Gymnasiums