Coupled with smart switches and home automation systems, LED has revolutionised the lighting industry, in particular when it comes to energy saving. However, you only have to look on the internet forums to see electricians desperately trying to find an answer to the problem of replacing a customer’s old incandescent lamp with a new energy-saving LED lamp only to find that it will not switch off. Or, the customer asked for an automatic light switch (PIR, timed, delay, or remote control etc) to be fitted to their state-of-the-art LED lighting installation, only to find the automatic switch has stopped working after a week.
WHAT’S CAUSING THE PROBLEMS?
The main reason we all want to use LED lighting is to save energy. LED lamps use a fraction of the power of incandescent or halogen so, quite logically, they only need a fraction of the power for them to illuminate. Any small voltage/current within the circuit will, therefore, cause the LED lamps to glow or flash – just the sort of current that is always present in the case of most two-wire automatic switches offering PIR switching, timing, delay, photocell or remote control.
Most of these automatic switches are designed to operate as a replacement for a standard two-wire light switch where there is normally no neutral connection available at the switch. On the face of it, that’s good news and an easy install for you but, for these switches to function, a small amount of power is drawn down through the switched live connection to operate the switch whilst in standby. That was never a problem for incandescent or halogen because the current was too small to have any effect, but it has emerged as a big problem with LED lighting. Another common problem arises when LEDs are switched on – a momentary power surge is created due to the circuitry needed to power the actual LED chips. Commonly known as an inrush current, this can be enough to damage many switches and equipment controlling them.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
Changing to a different LED lamp manufacturer is the most commonly shared answer, but that rarely works.
Timeguard has now developed a patented device that creates an electrical environment for automatic switches and LED lamps to operate in harmony, without having to modify the automatic switch or LED lamp by diverting the current from the LED or CFL lamp.
This new device is called the Timeguard ZV900 Automatic Switch Load Controller: it is small, inexpensive, easy to install, slips neatly through a standard 50mm ceiling aperture and you only need one per switching circuit. As it will work with just about any make of smart switch and LED or CFL lamps, you can go out and fix existing customer problems at a stroke.
The Timeguard ZV900 is specifically designed to alleviate issues with switching LEDs and CFL lamps without the need for extensive extra wiring, and in most cases no extra wiring at all.
AT A GLANCE
Features of the Timeguard ZV900 include:
- Eliminating LED and CFL glow and flicker in two- wire automatic light switches (ie timed, PIR, delay/timelag, security, audio and photocell automatic switches
- Built-in surge and current inrush suppression
- Boosts 99% of automatic switches LED switching capabilities to 200W
- Under 1W power consumption
- No additional cabling to the switch required
- Fits in the ceiling through a 50mm hole
- Only 1 x ZV900 needed per switching circuit up to 200W LED/CFL.
T: (NI) 020 8452 1112 or (RoI) 0044 20 8452 1112
E: sales@timeguard.com
W: www.timeguard.com
