With the innovative features built into every room controller, building lighting control is easier, simpler and reduces installation risk. The below comparisons are made between zencontrol Room controller and other manufacturers DALI gateways. Times are based on the commissioning job by an agent/ engineer and not the installation by the electrician.
Comparison
Room setup
Time taken to setup a full DALI line with 10 rooms, 2 switches / room and 2 sensors / room in absence or presence mode
Addressing
Time to address and arrange a full DALI line. *Due to the room controls design, devices are addressed and assigned to rooms automatically, removing the need for specific address locations.
Grouping
Time to Group a FULL DALI line into 10 rooms.
Single change
Time taken to make a single DALI change. Includes connecting / getting the current value and writing value
Thousand changes
Time takes to make 1000 changes on a DALI line. Includes connecting/ getting the current value and writing value
Replace / repair
Time to setup a single DALI light fitting after failure including adding to group and allowing switch and sensor control.
Fixed loads – no problem
Every channel on the Room controller can be toggled to act as a fully complaint DALI relay. This relay can be used to control other non-DALI loads, seamlessly integrating their control with other DALI products.
Additionally, the Room controller will detect non-DALI loads and automatically set them up associating the control to the previous channel.
The Room controller represents a significant paradigm shift within lighting control. Building upon traditional LCM and DALI Gateways, the Room controller makes a generational jump.
Commissioning errors sorted
Issues associated with duplicate DALI addresses, which can be caused when relocating fittings, pre-addressed devices or poorly designed products are automatically fixed with zencontrol.
Additionally, the original device will retain its address while the newly added device will be moved to the next free location, reducing the time spent fault finding.
Simple setup
Don’t get tangled up, The Room controller groups and sets up the rooms automatically, allowing the lighting, switches and sensors to work out of the box.
Switches and sensors can work in absence or presence, with time outs of 10 / 15 / 25 / 30 minutes, without a commissioning agent.
Additionally, throughout its entire life, any additional or replaced products will also be addressed, grouped and setup automatically reducing downtime and expensive call out fees.
Automatic addressing
No more running around, zencontrol products address DALI devices automatically and is ready before you even need it.
Add additional fittings at any time knowing they will be addressed and added to the system.
Wiring
With the zencontrol Room controller, wiring becomes simpler and easier. Compared to traditional LCM wiring, less custom lead lengths are required making installation for the luminaire manufacturer and the installer easier.
For each room simply connect all light fittings, sensors, switches and emergency lighting together and back into a single channel on the Room controller.
Wiring the Room controller could not be easier.
The zencontrol advantage
Control systems take a long time to set up and commission, the solution: zencontrol does all the hard parts. Save time, money and reduce risk with the automatic setup features in zencontrol products. Our smart controllers make light work of the tasks which burden installers.
| Task | Other systems (conservative) | zencontrol |
|---|---|---|
| Random addressing of luminaires | 5-10⁺ mins / 64 fittings | Automatic |
| Scanning settings from luminaires, switches and sensors | 2-10 mins depending on amount of data / 64 fittings | Automatic |
| Readdressing new devices | 2⁺ mins | Automatic |
| Fixing address conflicts | 2⁺ mins | Automatic |
| Setup of switches and sensors | 5⁺ | Automatic |
| Grouping rooms | 5-10⁺ mins / group | Automatic |
| Syncing data changes made by the installer or users | 1 – 10⁺ mins depending on what is written | Automatic |
*All information is per DALI line
Logical numbering
The Room controller makes your job easier by sequentially numbering all devices found in a room, even after you add more devices. Sequential numbering makes the process of commissioning and fault finding easier.
Integration
A modern building requires many building services to be connected. zencontrol makes integration easy with several supported methods:
▪ RS232 connections
▪ Modbus over IP
▪ BACnet over IP (server)
▪ Volt free I/O (low level triggers)
▪ Cloud based API
Additionally, as BACnet, Modbus and KNX support is at the application controller level, no additional controller between the lighting control system and BMS is required. This reduces cost, increases speed and removes the risk of a single point failure.
Shorts
From time to time manufacturers products fail, in some cases the DALI ballast or drivers can short the DALI line. In other cases, poor wiring or setup can lead to a DALI line short. Most installers know that finding a DALI short is a timely process which can sometimes leave the lights uncontrollable for some time.
The room controller is able to identify the room in which a short is present and isolate it from the rest of the DALI line. This significantly reduces the fault-finding time and leaves all other rooms operational.
Full featured and controllable
Out of the box the room controller is designed to work, however a commissioning agent can tailor the product to work for almost any custom requirement.
Resources
Check out more information and downloads related to the Room controller.
