Wireless light switches leave nary a mark on The Mond
Wireless self-powered light switches from MK Electric’s Echo range have enabled the Grade 2 listed Mond building at Cambridge University to be refurbished without having to chase out walls to install wiring between lighting fittings and their switches.
This rotunda-based building was designed in the early 1930s as a laboratory for Russian Nobel Prize winner Leonidovich Kapitza and is one of the best examples of Modernist architecture in Cambridge. It has been converted into The Library for African Studies.
The Echo range of switches is self powered — without batteries. Switches can be installed virtually anywhere using adhesive pads or screws and relocated very easily. At The Mond, they control existing lighting fittings.
The Echo system comprises a self-powered switch and an RF receiver. The receiver is installed at the lighting fixture and wired into the lighting circuit. The switch is ‘aligned’ to the receiver by setting it into ‘learn mode’ and pressing the rocker. One receiver can be programmed for operation by up to 30 switches, and any number of receivers can be programmed by a single switch.
Consulting engineer was K. J. Tait Engineers, and the contractor for the additional lighting control works was P. A. Collacott & Co. of Cambridge.
