Saving on lighting cost for underground car park

[mfarrow]

I was thinking more of a spring roller switch which activated with the gate movement, or an inductive sensor which recognised the gate being in the closed position and activated the output when the gate starts to open.

My other idea was to have an inductive sensor in the ground like what you find at traffic lights etc. The car driving over it will activate the lights..

I'd agree that this is better than PIR's. Those options are at ground level if things go wrong, won't pick up cats or stray pedestrians, and if you go for the gate switch option, it won't pick up stray cars, either.

 

[OwainDIYer]

I was thinking more of a spring roller switch which activated with the gate movement, or an inductive sensor which recognised the gate being in the closed position and activated the output when the gate starts to open.

My other idea was to have an inductive sensor in the ground like what you find at traffic lights etc. The car driving over it will activate the lights..

I'd agree that this is better than PIR's. Those options are at ground level if things go wrong, won't pick up cats or stray pedestrians, and if you go for the gate switch option, it won't pick up stray cars, either.

I'd suggest that it's essential to have adequate lighting for stray pedestrians for resident reassurance and to avoid any liability claims.

 

[bhm1712]

I was thinking more of a spring roller switch which activated with the gate movement, or an inductive sensor which recognised the gate being in the closed position and activated the output when the gate starts to open.

My other idea was to have an inductive sensor in the ground like what you find at traffic lights etc. The car driving over it will activate the lights..

I'd agree that this is better than PIR's. Those options are at ground level if things go wrong, won't pick up cats or stray pedestrians, and if you go for the gate switch option, it won't pick up stray cars, either.

I'd suggest that it's essential to have adequate lighting for stray pedestrians for resident reassurance and to avoid any liability claims.

If its a private car park i would assume that there would be no access for stray pedestrians. Any how, thats why i suggested splitting the lighting into 2 circuits. One which remains constantly lit during darkness with low power light fittings in the walkways and access ways.

 

[tomtomato]

It's a gated private car park, so no reasons for pedestrians to be there if they are not a resident.

I like the idea of keeping a few lights on (and maybe those can be LED), but it will make the installation more complex, as everything is on the same circuit now, so would need some rewiring.

I suspect we have so many tubes because the ceiling is quite high (higher than a usual car park), but we could probably do with fewer tubes, so maybe some could be left blank.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Sure, apart from the cost and my budget of £2000 for the work!

I think spraying all walls and ceiling in white would cost more than my total budget.

Would the residents be willing to have a Painting Party one afternoon? Or is it not that sort of block?

Any chance of a photo of the garage?

 

[Lectrician]

A large open space is crying out for microwave occupancy detection.

Ideally, the fluorescents would be high frequency as they start quicker and the lamps do not fail quicker due to regular starting.

If the fittings are not high frequency, swapping the starters for the green electronic type would help.

Using the output of the garage roller door is also worth considering. It may then be better to simply have a push switch by the pedestrian door, having this and the roller door contact firing a timelag relay. No occupancy detector required.

 

[tomtomato]

Using the output of the garage roller door is also worth considering. It may then be better to simply have a push switch by the pedestrian door, having this and the roller door contact firing a timelag relay. No occupancy detector required.

Hi,

it's actually not a roller door, but a sliding gate, and it's quite often broken, so we can't just rely on the light to come up when the door is open, or left open.

 

[SimonH2]

It's a gated private car park, so no reasons for pedestrians to be there if they are not a resident.

Just be aware that the premises owner/occupiers are liable for third parties even if they are trespassing.
I don't know how far it goes (I guess each case would be taken in it's merits), but even if someone breaks in to gain access, they can still sue you if they get injured because the environment is dangerous - sad I know, but there have been cases. Since the gate is known not to work at times (would leave access open), and someone could walk in while the gate is open for a car, you need to ensure that it is reasonably safe even for trespassers.

However, as others have said, just making safe for yourselves - splitting the lighting so some is always one for example - will deal with that.

On that, how is the current system wired ? If it's surface conduit and "singles" (single wires in the conduit) then that should make it a lot easier to split the lighting as you can (or should be able to) feed in additional live feeds fairly easily.

I suspect we have so many tubes because the ceiling is quite high (higher than a usual car park), but we could probably do with fewer tubes, so maybe some could be left blank.

Normally, a higher ceiling would allow you to use less fittings. Low ceilings need lots of fittings in order to get even coverage. With high ceilings, the light spreads much further from the fitting and so less are needed.