Most lighting control problems we are asked to fix in Dubai villas were decided months before anyone bought a keypad. They were decided when the electrician pulled the first cable to the first switch position, following a drawing that showed switches rather than control. Here is what to settle before that happens.
1. Centralised or distributed dimming
A centralised system runs every lighting circuit back to dimming panels in the plant room, so the wall carries only a low voltage keypad. A distributed system puts the dimmer behind each keypad. For a new villa we almost always centralise: the walls are cleaner, the keypads can be anything, and a failed dimmer is swapped in the rack rather than in the majlis wall. It needs more cable and a bigger plant room, which is exactly why it must be decided before first fix.
2. Which circuits dim and which switch
Every circuit in the house should be listed as dimmed, switched or tunable before the fittings are chosen, because the fitting, the driver and the dimmer have to match. Dubai villas are full of LED strip in coves and shadow gaps, and strip that is not specified with its dimmable driver will flicker on any system. We produce that schedule with the lighting designer and hand it to the electrical contractor.
3. Keypad positions, not switch positions
A room with five switches by the door needs one keypad. A room with two doors needs two keypads that do the same thing. A master suite needs one each side of the bed. These positions go on the interior designer's elevations, at the height and alignment they want, and the back boxes are set for the keypad brand you have chosen. Lutron Palladiom, Crestron Horizon and Gira all use different boxes.
4. Tunable white, and where
Circadian lighting that shifts from cool at midday to warm at night is now affordable, but it doubles the control channels and needs tunable fittings. We usually specify it in the living spaces, kitchen and master suite and leave corridors and service areas on fixed warm white. Deciding this late means ripping out fittings; deciding it early costs very little.
5. Shading on the same system
In Dubai the blinds are part of the lighting. If the shading motors are specified by a curtain company and the lighting by someone else, the two will never talk. Put power and data for every motor on the lighting control drawing, choose motors the system drives natively and the daytime scenes will work from day one.
All five decisions sit in the design stage of our process. If you are building in Dubai and the electrician has not started, now is the moment to call us.