KNX-based lighting control enables disabled patients in nursing home
A lighting-control system based on the KNX protocol is enhancing the lives of elderly people with advanced dementia in a nursing home. Shandon House, run by Gateshead Council, installed the movement-based system as part of a refurbishment. Many residents are disoriented and have difficulty, for example, finding the bathroom in the night or the light switch in their room. Rather than leave lights on all night, movement detectors turn lights on in the en-suite bathrooms if a patient gets out of bed during the night and also control extractor fans in the bathrooms.
In communal lounges, scene-setting switches enable energy to be saved. External lights are controlled with a light sensor and timer to ensure they come on automatically when it gets dark but are switched off automatically at the same time every night. In the corridors, a night-light setting saves energy and prevents residents being disturbed by the light.
An interface between the lighting control system and the nurse-call system switches on appropriate lighting when the nurse-call alarm is activated.
Buscom, a busbar hybrid from Electrak, was installed throughout the loft space to provide power and control distribution systems. It combines with the Lightrak lighting-control system, which is used to control lights in corridors, residents’ rooms, communal areas and staff areas.
