Light and electrical plan for the electrician
I’m doing an electrical plan and trying to understand how photo/motion/occupancy sensors work in order to make the correct specifications.
I’ve heard that you would need a switch just for maintenance purposes even though the switch wont be used much.
For example, in the bathroom there’s going to be 3 kinds of lighting
1. vanity lights / sconces
2. fan/light combination over the toilet
3. shower light.
Questions:
1. Can there be just one switch connected to the entire combination while each fixture independently turns on with motion, not all at once?
2. Can there be a separate turn on switch for the fan so that it turns on only when the occupant wants it? Or should there just be a separate light fixture instead of the light/fan fixture combo?
3. Is this all too complicated for the electrician?
4. Would photo/motion/occupancy sensors escalate the installation cost too much?
Replies
How big a bathroom are you talking about? The reason I'm asking that question is, would it be possible for someone to enter the room without triggering the motions sensors for each of your fixtures (vanity lights/sconces; light/fan; shower light). In a bathroom I renovated in my home, I have a dimmer/switch for the vanity lighting, a regular switch for the shower light, and a timer switch for the exhaust fan...
Visit the Lutron website to learn about the wide variety of motion sensors, switches, etc. that are available. https://www.lutron.com/
If you want to get really fancy (and expensive) take a look at the following video, where wireless smart switches are used and can be programmed to meet your requirements (and change the on/off parameters at a later date). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI96Qj7hBFA
I'm sure your electrician could make some excellent suggestions on how to best meet your requirements at a reasonable cost...