A penny saves a ruble

Numerous lighting fixtures have appeared in your new apartment or cottage. If you follow the golden rule of thrifty people, using them will not only significantly reduce energy costs, extend the life of the power grid and lamps, make them safe to use, but also bring pleasure to their owner.

It is unlikely that anyone will argue with the fact that big money is earned by thrifty people. However, being financially wealthy does not mean surrounding yourself with a sea of ​​meaningless abundance. ATthe Moscow house of the far from poor Count Leo Tolstoy did not have electric lighting and a telephone, already in the 90syears of the last century available to the writer’s contemporaries with money.

One of the richest people in the world, the late billionaire Paul Getty installed pay telephones in his house, which had to be used by those who wanted to call guests. The wealthy homeowner, having abolished the position of janitor, swept the paths himself. No one has ever wasted his electricity and water without special need.

Do you think that both the count and the billionaire were hoarders and misers, the spiritual heirs of Gogol’s Plyushkin? Not at all. They were driven only by the desire to personally promote the idea of ​​frugality.

Only a stupid and vulgar person would light a hundred dollar bill and wash their hands with Hennessy cognac. Meanwhile, an open faucet with ever-flowing water, uselessly turned on lights in empty rooms, thousand-watt chandeliers where it is enough to use low-power lamps, idling electrical appliances,— all these are phenomena of the same order, demonstrating a lack of education and a lack of culture among the inhabitants of such apartments.

In the homes of my wealthy English acquaintances, it is not customary to take a bath every day (taking a shower is faster and cheaper), to regularly use an electric stove (gas is cheaper), to wash clothes during the day (a machine programmed for two in the morning washes at a reduced rate). None of them burn electricity outside the house in vain, turning on the lights in the garden and at the entrance to the estate only when necessary.

The scope of electricity in everyday life is constantly expanding. ATIn our country with an unstable economy, electricity bills are steadily increasing. The problem of energy saving is becoming a priority both for the state and for individual users of electrical installations. AT1996In 2010, a government decision was made to introduce automated energy saving systems. Mosenergo developed and approved day and night (preferential) tariffs for electricity consumption, individuals and legal entities were invited to install electricity meters with a double tariff in homes and institutions. It should be noted that newly built houses are equipped with two-tariff meters produced in Mytishchi SEB-2 (single-phase, power load up to 50 amps) and SET-4-2 (three-phase, load up to 60 amps), to which the device must be connected to switch tariffs. So far, the problem is being solved everywhere in the field of operation of lighting devices, although they are not the main current collectors.

What can be done to reduce energy consumption and, consequently, the cost of operating electrical networks and lighting fixtures?

Electrical engineers have a lot of ideas about this. A good solution would be to create compact devices such as glasses, which would increase the light sensitivity of the eye.

Imagine, it’s getting dark, you put on twilight (night) vision goggles that do not limit your physical activity and allow you to continue reading without an additional light source. Bye, toUnfortunately, such devices are bulky and are used primarily for military purposes.

Another way— the use of lamps with increased light output with less energy consumption. These really do exist. Mercury fluorescent lamps 10-20Tue have light output 40-80 watts incandescent lamps, their service life 6-8 times longer than usual. ATThey are supplied to Russia by almost all leading manufacturers of electrical equipment, there are also domestic analogues. There is, however, a nuance that cannot be ignored: mercury— an extremely toxic metal, and it is not recommended to break such lamps. Even if lamps with mercury lamps in institutions and on the street are protected from vandals, the subsequent disposal of such lamps is a difficult task in our conditions. As for halogen lamps, they are quite expensive and require the installation of step-down transformers, which is not always convenient in practice.

Finally, there is a third way to solve the problem of energy saving, which electrical engineers have chosen,— creation of energy saving systems and development and implementation of lighting control and regulation devices.

Thirtyyears ago in our country, for the first time, a mechanical light switch-off device with an adjustable time delay was developed and found practical application— circuit breaker AB-S-0.2-2.5 UHL 4, which is still produced by various factories in the CIS, in particular by the society of the blind in Alma-Ata. Pressed the button— the light turned on and after a specified period of time (usually two minutes) it automatically turned off. It is convenient if you move from room to room, adhering to the time set by the timer, for example, in a cottage, moving from the hallway, through the living room, up the stairs to the attic. It is inconvenient if for some reason you are delayed on the way: the light will turn off at the most inopportune moment (for example, on the stairs, where you were caught by a mobile phone ringing). However, time-tested, cheap and reliable.

With the introduction of microprocessor technology into everyday life, a more perfect way to solve the problem has appeared. FROMWith the help of microprocessors, it became possible to increase or decrease the voltage (change the current strength accordingly) and thus regulate the power consumption. The simplest devices— dimmers— allow you to smoothly or stepwise adjust the illumination manually.

More complex developments are based on the principle of security systems. If the sensor of the security system, reacting to human movements in the room, transmits an alarm signal or turns on the siren, then a similar sensor of the lighting control and regulation device, reacting to an object moving in a certain direction, automatically turns on and off or only turns off the light turned on by the person. This kind of control devices is called passive infrared motion sensors (detectors). The device activates a passive type sensor that reacts to the heat (infrared radiation) of the human body in a given spatial volume where a moving object may be. The sensor also responds to the height of the object. Therefore, do not worry that the light will turn on if your cat or dog runs along the corridor.

For example, the German company BUSCH-JAEGER supplies a sensor 180 to RussiaUP in two versions: standard, in which all operation parameters are set at the factory, and individual, in which the turn-on delay time, circle diameter and height of the object detection zone are set by the user himself. Optionally, you can install an infrared sensor with an extended viewing angle (up to2700), which allows him to «see» beyond the plane of the door. ATin this case, your path begins to be illuminated even before you cross the threshold of the room,— as soon as you open the front door.

This expansion of the monitoring function provides the inhabitants of the house with a new level of comfort, not to mention increased security. Domestic developers of a similar lighting control device PUO-1 from NGOs«ORION» took a different path: they used an active microwave sensor, similar to that used in security systems. The device allows you to turn on and off the lighting in zone 10m, for example, when approaching the porch of the house.

Lighting changers are equipped with a portable remote control, similar to television. FROMremote control, you can adjust the level of illumination, turn on and off the light both in the room itself and in the rooms adjacent to it in accordance with the automatic functions embedded in the control microprocessor.

Domestic developments of these devices are convenient in that they are designed for installation in boxes of standard Soviet switches and do not require the use of a separate neutral conductor. Installed as an experiment in apartment buildings in Northern Butovo, they receive only positive feedback. The device for smooth and remote control of lighting PPDUO BPKB manufactured by the Lyubertsy plant «PLASTMASS» is designed for manual and remote switching on and off of lighting devices and smooth control of the brightness of incandescent lamps at a distance of up to 5m. Remote switch-regulator of electric lighting devices DVR-1BUTI produced by NGOs«ORION» has no Western analogues: it is designed for contactless (withdistances to 10cm) and remote (withremote control) turning on and off lighting devices and smooth control of incandescent lamps from a distance of up to 5m. The non-contact adjustment method ensures the cleanliness and sterility of the switch key, which means a lot if, for example, there is a sick person in the house.

Of interest is a system with a remote control Busch-Ferncontrol IR, offering a range of unique features. ATFirst of all, it gives the user the ability to memorize the brightness of several light sources. The system consists of several wall-mounted infrared receivers and a single remote control. Switches, adjustable voltage sockets, ceiling light controls, and fluorescent lamp switches are supplied with receivers. How convenient— turn on the table lamp where you like and control it from the remote control! You can program lighting options in the rooms of your home and vary them with the touch of just one button!

Recently, a significant number of imported control devices have appeared on the Russian market. Protozoa— dimmers made in China— allow you to change the level of illumination in three steps or turn off the light in three touches. The imperfection of the design of dimmers reduces their service life to two years, while they can fail at any time. The control devices of the French company LEGRAND, in particular remote dimmers for the maximum total power of light sources (halogen, fluorescent lamps and incandescent lamps) from 1kW up to 25kW. They allow both centralized remote control of lighting from a command dimmer, and local control using pushbuttons or electronic switches. Both control schemes provide for the possibility of storing certain values ​​of controlled parameters in memory.

Complex imported microprocessor systems are certainly more reliable, although not cheap, but they, like their domestic counterparts, have a drawback. Imagine that your shoelace came undone in the hallway and you had to bend down to tie it. The light will immediately be extinguished, because your behavior is not programmed into the device’s microprocessor program. To re-ignite it, you have to wave your hand to the height of the programmed minimum human height.

Another type of controller— automatic twilight switches based on the design of which— photocell. Domestic device for stepwise switching on and off of lighting PVO-1 BUTI produced by NPO«ORION» is designed to automatically turn on and off the rows of lamps in the building, depending on the natural light. Similar switches with programmable functions and different illumination ranges are supplied to Russia by South Korean, German, French, Swedish and other companies. The LEGRAND twilight switch regulates the illumination from 5 to 25lux, and when using a photocell with a special paper screen— up to 600 lux.

I already foresee the question: why are we talking exclusively about lighting fixtures?

But what if the forgetful hostess leaves the iron or electric stove on and flies away for a week to warm up under the rays of the Cypriot sun?

In the best case, upon her return, an unusable electrical appliance and a solid bill for the spent electricity are waiting for her, at worst … Well, let’s not dramatize the situation. The problem is really serious, and the best minds of the world’s leading companies producing electrical goods are fighting over it.

Firm SIEMENS— one of those who pursue the goal of putting the work of all electrical installations in the house under the control of the computer. This opportunity came as a result of the revolution in the field of internal wiring of buildings.— creation of the installation bus InstabusEIB. Where the possibilities of hidden wiring approach their limits, the use of a SIEMENS installation rail allows you not only to save energy, increase the comfort of use and increase the technical capabilities of your electrical network, but also take it under computer control. So far, the development of computer monitoring of the power grid is in the experimental stage. But even the earliest implementation of the system SIEMENS in operation does not promise that it will be cheap. However, those who have something to save will do the right thing if they install the system at home. The miser, as you know, pays twice.

While Western experts are experimenting, domestic craftsmen offer, albeit not so advanced, but quite real ways to protect the house from the negligence of forgetful housewives. Andin an iron, and in an electric stove, and in any device with a heating element, sensors that respond to changing voltage parameters and heating time can be mounted, which are enough to be connected to protective shutdown devices after their simple refinement (at the same time, the RCD does not need to be structurally changed), so that in In the event of an emergency, a particular device was switched off. Another domestic idea is to bring the sensors from the included electrical appliances to the control panel of the security system, with the help of which the owner of the house and his family members arm the dwelling, unlock and lock the door. A sensor signaling that the iron or electric fireplace is not turned off will not allow the door to be closed (an additional function is being introduced into the security system program) and will force the forgetful user to return and turn off the appliance.

So, there is no simple radical remedy for the forgetfulness of housewives? Calm down, there are such means: traditional time relays and programmable timers. Time relays installed directly into the socket come with a closing delay, an opening delay, pulse (to turn on and off any load at a given frequency, for example, the same lighting), multifunctional. The simplest timers allow you to connect the load for a given time. They are installed both on switchboards and on sockets. More complex LEGRAND timers allow you to set from8 to 58programs for a period of up to a week with the display of their content on the scoreboard or on the liquid crystal display. Timers can be programmed to turn off any electrical appliances that are left unattended.

However, it’s time to cool down the ardor of fantasy and return to the earth, where in practice we are constantly faced with thinking at the level of a hand-wound electric fireplace-«goat», with the help of which the owner, simmering in warmth, plunges the surrounding dwellings into twilight. The answer in this case is standard: «Maybe notLet’s burn down.» Living on the «maybe», thoughtless spending of water, gas and light in the absence of individual meters is still possible, but isn’t this what we all suffer from? AndAre we so rich as not to buy even expensive, but extremely necessary and useful devices for controlling and regulating lighting? It seems that the answer suggests itself: if Count Tolstoy, who received the highest fees in Russia at that time for his writings, saved money, then what can we say about us?

Remember the episode from the immortal book of I.Ilfa and E.Petrov «12chairs.» Why was Vasisualy Lokhankin whipped by the tenants? That’s right, for the systematic non-extinguishing of the light in the toilet. Still, at the dawn of domestic socialism, the people were advanced, it was later spoiled by free cheese (read: water, gas, light), which, as we know, happens only in a mousetrap. Let’s think about this and take another step towards the pinnacle of progress: we will install at least one of the above-described lighting control and regulation devices in our house in order to rightfully say: “We are not Lokhankins! We are not Lokhankins!”

The editors would like to thank TFSELECTROTECNIC for help in organizing the shooting, as well as the manager C.BUT.Ptashkin and electrical engineer A.AT.Kuzilin for the information provided.

• Source: Ideas for Your Home Magazine#4

Material prepared

Petr Nikolaev

A photo

Dmitry Minkin