One expects a lot from the living room. It?s where you put up your feet after a tiring day or entertain friends on a Friday night. For scenario one, typically, you would need soft lights. For scenario two, you may need to tone down the light when people take to the floor. Whatever the reason, one wishes one didn?t have to get up again and again to adjust that light. Now, you needn?t. Delhi-based engineering designer Navin Krishen suggests you switch to dimmers.
A dimmer switch, says Krishen, not only changes the ambience of any room, but also helps in saving energy. With applications ranging from toning the lights in the boardroom while making a presentation to that in a hotel lobby during the night or at our homes for safety, he finds dimmers in demand with each passing day. ?The handy electrical component that lets one adjust light levels from nearly dark to fully lit by simply turning a knob or sliding a lever have been there for years; the difference now is the awareness due to its energy conservation capability and affection it enjoys from style seekers,? says Krishen, also MD, Kanwar Krishen Associates.
So, a dimmer could merge with the paint on your wall to make a perfect setting for a party. On the energy conservation side, switches like dimmers, timers and occupancy sensors in case of a typical three-bedroom home could help one eliminate over 850 pounds of CO2 emissions each year, says an American study. In the evenings, when the lights are dimmed to 50% of their normal capacity, the lamp life is extended 20 times with 40% energy saved. ?The first selling factor of a dimmer, however, is the aesthetics,? says interior designer Faiza Seth, CEO, Casa Forma. A consumer first, Seth has put dimmers in every new project of hers. ?With people realising the dimming benefits all the more, we find the little lamps reaching every nook and corner of our structures.?
Another benefit is the usage. With the dimming concept getting its share of limelight, lighting brands are redefining the category for good. Gone are the days of conventional and tedious formats of dimming, pre-planned circuitry, panel boards, tedious installations process and possibilities of errors at various levels. Thanks to architectural lighting reaching technological crossroads, one finds lamps and optical systems coupled with innovative technologies for digital lighting control, and control protocols like Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) in place. The DALI lighting system, for example, makes the operation flexible with the software adaptable to any spatial condition. It is quick and user friendly (with no need of an electrician), and more of a light studio concept with varied setting up functions, automating and documenting the light to make any background scenographic.
?The future-oriented concept of ?tune the light? has brought a paradigm shift in the concept of lighting design. The idea is ?less is more?. Today, we tell consumers to get over necessary evils like light control system or home automation, and experience the new language of lighting,? says Amit Gupta, director of Vis-?-Vis Lights, an ERCOpartner in India. As the retailer advises, the idea is to swing with the muted, scenic lighting your living room has just discovered. Enjoy!