March 9th, 2020 by Sarah Miles

One of the banes of a premises manager’s life is managing lights: turning them on in a morning and then making sure they’re all off on an evening. In a larger company, this may be a dedicated estates role but in a smaller one, it could just as easily be an office manager or even the managing director’s job.

One really simple alternative to this issue is to use motion-sensitive lighting. Lights that use a motion-sensor are very commonplace in outdoor lighting; most businesses (and domestic properties even) use them for security but many companies are embracing motion-sensitive lighting indoors as well.

What are motion-sensitive lights?

Motion-sensitive lights are pretty much as the name suggests; lights that illuminate automatically when they detect motion. Essentially, what that means for a business is that lights can be left off in rooms or spaces that are not in constant use and they will come on instantly when someone enters without them having to press a switch manually. Likewise, when no motion is detected in the room, the lights will turn off. Great for toilets, corridors, storerooms, meeting rooms or stairwells.

What are the benefits of motion-sensitive lighting?

The benefits of using these kinds of lights are as follows:

Convenience

As touched on above, not having to go around turning all the lights on at one end of the day and then off again at the other can save significant amounts of time for someone. It’s convenient in other ways as well: walking into a dark room or building requires you to locate the light switch in the dark so it saves the fumbling around and it can be particularly difficult if both hands are full. Motion-sensitive lights eradicate these issues.

Energy and cost-efficiency

Because lights are only being used when they’re absolutely needed, it can significantly reduce energy consumption. Lighting empty rooms is the very definition of wastage. Not only does this reduce your energy bills, but it also contributes towards reducing your business’s carbon footprint as well.

If you’ve ever used the phrase “it’s like Blackpool illuminations in here” at home when everyone leaves the lights on, you will really appreciate these lights in your workplace!

Improves the lifespan of your lights

Bulbs have a lifespan which is generally expressed in terms of hours, and even if you’re using LEDs which have a lifespan of around 50,000 hours, logic dictates that the fewer hours they’re actually turned on, the longer they’ll last. This means making sure you only use them when needed will extend the life of your lights and offer better value for money.

Improves safety

How many times do staff members just dash back into a room or corridor because they’ve forgotten something when leaving and don’t necessarily turn the light back on because they’ll “only be a moment”? That’s when accidents can happen. Having lights that automatically turn on when they sense movement means that all areas are sufficiently illuminated when they need to be. They also don’t have to worry about turning them off again.

Better security

Just as motion sensor lights are commonly used outdoors for security, so can they improve security inside the building as well. Immediately triggering lights inside the building and alerting people to their presence would be an intruder’s nightmare.

Motion-sensitive lights are therefore great for convenience, for saving energy, for saving money, for saving the planet, for safety, and for extending the life of your lights – what’s not to like?