Light Monitoring Dashboards: The Future of Maintenance
When it comes to introducing new technologies, inventions that reduce manual workloads, ease reporting procedures, improve energy efficiency and help cut costs sound too good to be true. But thankfully, they’re not. One of the latest innovations transforming the commercial lighting world does just that. Here, Chris Anderson, Technical Manager at Ansell Lighting, delves into the benefits of light monitoring dashboards and how these cutting‑edge tools can support and alleviate the workloads of facilities managers.
Lighting designers and manufacturers, know all too well about the challenges and complexities facilities managers face in trying to monitor and maintain compliant lighting installations. Throw in the added pressures of cost cutting exercises and sustainability targets and it’s inevitable that the whole process feels overwhelming. Well thankfully, not anymore.
Created to ease the burden of all of these pressures are light monitoring dashboards, a cutting‑edge tool that, when used alongside smart lighting systems, provide real‑time data and analytics, enabling facilities managers to monitor, manage, and optimise their lighting environments like never before.
From energy use and operational settings, to testing and maintenance insights, light monitoring dashboards provide a comprehensive view of lighting systems across buildings and estates, making it easier to manage site performance.
So how do they work?
The benefits of this insight are immense and can vastly optimise the burden lighting maintenance and compliance has on facilities managers.
The first major benefit is that the insight offered can support efforts to improve energy efficiency. The data will identify operational inefficiencies in real time, highlighting fittings that may be in use unnecessarily or operating outside of required parameters. Additionally, adjustments to settings such as colour, brightness, and intensity can be made effortlessly—all of which can have a significant impact on energy consumption.
Dashboards can also be used to help improve the efficiency of maintenance and management procedures. By providing a central hub to track the performance of all smart lighting fixtures, they eradicate the need for time‑consuming manual inspections and can be used to predict maintenance needs before issues arise. This can dramatically reduce the workload associated with lighting upkeep and also minimises the risk of unexpected failures, which can be costly and disruptive.
With more efficient energy use and streamlined management practices occurring, lower operating costs will naturally follow, supporting cost reduction strategies and boosting financial performance.
Light monitoring dashboards also provide a convenient central hub from which all lighting data and reports can be accessed and stored. This greatly simplifies reporting procedures and means that the status of every lighting device can be viewed in one place. Providing instant compilation and access to information required for statutory reports, dashboards streamline compliance audits and ensure accurate documentation is readily available.
Light monitoring dashboards are an indispensable tool for facilities managers looking to optimise their operations and can add significant value to organisations of any size. They will greatly enhance the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of any lighting installation and are already proving to be exceptionally popular within the market.
