The Building Research Establishment has over a period of years tried to encourage the greater use of daylight as a means of saving energy on lighting.
The DEM Metron system of high grade photo cell control embodied in their Type CB Lighting control equipment monitors the illumination level on the working plane and is designed for use in factories, warehouses and transport premises.

The system has been used in many such building where there has been good daylight availability through roof glazing of as little as 10%. The installations have usually produced energy savings of 35 – 50% with a payback of the capital cost within 6 months to 2 years.

Trial in Warehouse in Birmingham
The management of this warehouse operated by a major utility company wished to verify the performance of the DEM Metron system and set up a monitoring programme using suitable high grade test equipment over a six month period from lst January to 30th June. The lighting load was 13kW provided by 45-250 watt SON luminaires, daylight was available through 10% roof glazing and working was 9 hours, 5 days per week.

Features of DEM Metron Lighting Control
High grade daylight level monitoring Digital time programming Restricted/self resetting override facilities to prevent overrides being left on indefinitely. Maintenance features which allow lights to be switched on manually during good daylight for testing lamps and for making adjustments to control settings without distracting staff. Front panel indication of status of daylight level control, time programme and overrides. Complete lighting management unit with fully rated multiple circuit outputs in heavy duff enclosure for direct installation in industrial environments at minimal cost. A full report on the Birmingham warehouse trial and other case studies are ayailable on request.