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Motion Sensor/Sensing switches Saving energy should be easy as possible. Anything that you could do to automate your energy usage will affect change. How can you automate your energy saving? Through occupancy sensors or motion sensing switches. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, energy savings from using Occupancy Sensors can range from 40% to 46% in classrooms, 13% to 50% in private offices, 30% to 90% in restrooms, 22% to 65% in conference rooms, 30% to 80% in corridors, and 45% to 80% in storage areas. In your home, occupancy sensors work well in the laundry room, bathroom, and kid’s room. Besides providing a means of minimizing energy consumption, additional uses of occupancy sensors include security (by indicating that an area is occupied), and minimizing light pollution (by reducing the usage of lighting operating at night), whether it be outdoor lighting or indoor lighting emitting through windows or skylights. Occupancy sensors are ideally suited for applications that require a higher granularity of control than can be economically achieved using scheduling (e.g., a floor of an office building with perimeter offices that must be controlled individually). Motion Sensing Switches are also considered most suitable when the space is intermittently occupied, meaning it is unoccupied for two or more hours per day, and where the lights are typically left on when the space is unoccupied. Appropriate applications for motion sensing switches include offices, classrooms, copy rooms, restrooms, storage areas, conference rooms, warehouses, break rooms, corridors, filing areas, and other spaces. In contrast, scheduling typically is most suitable for larger projects, such as entire buildings and multiple spaces tied together on the same schedule. Scheduling is also often appropriate for public spaces where occupancy is typically predictable and based on a schedule — or where the lights must remain on even when the space is unoccupied, such as lobbies. To provide proper automatic lighting shutoff for a building, a combination of scheduling devices and occupancy sensors may be desirable. Occupancy sensors can provide local control for private spaces, while scheduling panels can provide global control for the building depending on its operating schedule and public spaces where the lights must remain on even when the space is unoccupied. Although occupancy sensors have matured since their introduction, and various manufacturers offer a robust offering of products, occupancy sensors remain application-sensitive devices. The goal is to gain the full advantages of occupancy sensor operation while avoiding possible negative outcomes, most notably nuisance switching (lights are switched under false conditions, such as turning off while somebody is still in the room but has been motionless for several minutes). As a result, thoroughly understanding the characteristics and requirements of the application and subsequently making appropriate design decisions — sensing technology, coverage patterns, sensor location, special features, and commissioning — are critical to ensuring a trouble-free application.