Page 30 - IEC Insights Mar-April2020

FEATURE

5 Tips for Tunable

White Control that

Prioritizes Quality Light

BY JIM DOUGHERTY

hen you are looking 1 FIXTURES WITH SMALLER CCT installation process, saving time,
for ways to help your RANGES CAN RESULT IN MORE money, and aggravation.
customers achieve their
design vision, tunable ACCURATE COLOR RENDERING.
Wwhite control can make All 2-channel tunable white solutions 3 A DIGITAL SOLUTION HELPS YOU
significant contributions to a space that render tunable white light by mixing AVOID COSTLY WIRING MISTAKES.
promotes comfort, fosters engagement, one warm and one cool LED chip
and enables enhanced well-being. 2-Channel tunable white can be achieved
set. This makes 2-channel tunable in several ways, but digital control
white cost effective, but it does
There is plenty to consider when selecting simplifies installation, and reduces the
and installing a tunable white solution, require you to make certain choices risk of expensive callbacks. With 0-10V
when specifying the fixtures.
but it starts with the advantages of a projects, 2 pairs of identical control wires
2-channel, digital solution that allows To improve color accuracy, specify fixtures mean contractors have to wire them
independent adjustment of intensity and with smaller CCT ranges to render color correctly to achieve the specified intensity
correlated color temperature (CCT). In that is closer to the black body curve (a and CCT. With tight timelines, and
projects where adjustable light levels are recommended range is 2700 K to 4000 growing labor shortages, it’s a rare project
important to space performance, digital K). Wider CCT ranges can deviate from that comes to fruition without at least
tunable white is essential and key to a the black body curve, resulting in light one wiring issue. Errors may not always
quality light solution that complements that looks either more purple, or more be detected by a basic function check.
the client’s design and material green, than expectations. To ensure color
choices and will minimize risk by easily consistency from fixture to fixture, specify With digital solutions that use polarity-
accommodating design changes over time. free wiring, such as Lutron T-Series, there
all fixtures with the same CCT range. is one twisted pair of wires, so contractors
The following 5 points can help clarify don’t have to worry about correctly
the differences between digital and 2 CHOOSE DRIVERS AND connecting separate intensity and CCT
0-10V solutions. They also highlight the CONTROLS DESIGNED TO control wires over many fixtures. Digital
advantages of choosing a 2-channel, controls are also immune to noise —
tunable white solution that helps provides WORK TOGETHER. even if the control wires are near an
superior lighting performance, code electrically noisy area, the occupant will
compliance, better space utilization, Install a solution designed to ensure not experience undesired behavior in the
and the right lighting environment predictable performance and eliminate lighting. This has always been a benefit
for the people in the space. risk — specify drivers and specialized of digital control, but it’s even more
controls that guarantee compatibility important with tunable white due to the
and performance. The solution provider increased sensitivity to differences in color.
can help simplify the specification and

28 Insights Magazine | March/April 2020 | www.ieci.org