easiapes

Occupancy sensors detect the presence of people in a room. When there’s no one there, they turn off the lights. When someone returns, they turn the lights back on. This technology works quite well in storage rooms, conference rooms, break rooms, and even the boss’s office.
In a single small office where lights are on unnecessarily two hours a day, annual energy waste adds up to $10. Add many offices, meeting rooms, and other spaces together and the savings from occupancy sensors can be significant.  Most occupancy sensors are inexpensive, and in many cases they are simple to install. In larger spaces, they work best when mounted in the ceiling. For smaller spaces, they can be installed in place of the room’s light switch.

CASE IN POINT – Northwest Elementary School (Pasco County, Florida)
Occupancy sensors were installed to control lighting in Northwest Elementary School in Pasco County, Florida. They replaced conventional light switches in classrooms, offices, and other spaces. Detailed before and after monitoring showed that the sensors saved 10% of their lighting energy. Even more, if you include the reduced load on their air conditioning system. These savings occurred in spite of an aggressive energy management program they already had in place. The sensors paid for themselves in five years—equal to a 21% simple rate of return.