im working on a project at work trying to come up with some green initiatives...were talking about installing timers/sensors in our lighting system to conserve electricity...

i swear ive heard of something that detects when a person enters thru a doorway, but can also count and keep track of the # of people in the room so it wont turn the lights out if a visitor enters then exits with the original person still in the room (like an office situation)

anybody know what im talking about? ive done some googling and cant come up with anything

I have no idea what you're talking about, but some of the offices where I work have motion detectors within the room. After so long without any motion within that room the lights are turned off! So you don't have to worry about counting people walking in and out of the office.

I know what you are describing but couldnt give you a name. They are better than your standard motion detector because if a person is typing away at their desk and not moving, the lights are never going to shut off on that person because the sensor has the count.

yea the point of all this is to not have to stop working every 10 mins and wave your arms to keep the lights on...i know this exists but cant remember what theyre called

Are the doors standard steel framed commercial doors? Are you renovating the entire office or just looking to add these devices?

this is just your typical admin office set up......currently everything is being gutted and completely rebuilt including lighting/air...im no contracting wiz but the door frames look identical to the ones at home save for a metal frame instead of wood

I've seen the infrared sensors that use body heat as a way to know if anyone is in the room or not. Haven't heard of the counter though.

Yes there's 2 different prox's on the sensor. 2 lasers reflect off a reflector and you hit each laser depending on whether u came in or left. If it saw two people coming in, it could be programmed to look for 2 people go out before turning a relay on.. If you don't have a relay lighting system in place it's not worth the money to install it just for that.


Omron makes one.

se-alum;436584 wrote:I've seen the infrared sensors that use body heat as a way to know if anyone is in the room or not. Haven't heard of the counter though.

this is a lot more prevalent.

ok cool thanks for the help...maybe thermal is the way to go

None of them are really the way to go. You're not saving much money turning a fluorescent light off.

Honeywell does this, it is one of my father-in-laws' division's biggest generation of sales. Their sensors not only affect lighting but also heating/air conditioning, the latter being a larger cost-saver. For an individual house it probably doesn't make a difference but for hotels and other large venues it can be cost effective.

Couldn't you just hire an illegal immigrant, pay them $5.00 a day and allow them to sleep in the boiler room for free. He (or she, we don't want to discriminate) can turn the lights on and off as people enter and exit the room. They could also monitor the temperature in the offices and adjust the heating/air as needed. I got this idea from the Basil Marceaux website but it read like "Get jobs to Americans don't like for immigrants not legal to America after they say the pledge. We pay them $5.00 a day from gas money from lots with trees and grass sold to other people.

mella;437999 wrote:Couldn't you just hire an illegal immigrant, pay them $5.00 a day and allow them to sleep in the boiler room for free. He (or she, we don't want to discriminate) can turn the lights on and off as people enter and exit the room. They could also monitor the temperature in the offices and adjust the heating/air as needed. I got this idea from the Basil Marceaux website but it read like "Get jobs to Americans don't like for immigrants not legal to America after they say the pledge. We pay them $5.00 a day from gas money from lots with trees and grass sold to other people.

I love it, Basil is a 'genious' !!!