Halored / Lighting automation
Lighting automation: Light that knows what to do.
Halored’s lighting automation makes a building’s light work around people, daylight and the time of day – from offices to shopping centres, from a fountain to a façade. We advise, contribute to the design, commission, train and stay available.
Why lighting automation
Good lighting automation goes unnoticed. The light in the corridor comes on before you get there and goes off after you have left. The luminaire by the window burns more softly than the one deeper in the room, because daylight does part of the work. The meeting room switches to presentation mode with one press. The façade changes its look in the evening without anyone having to do anything.
For the client this means four things. Energy use falls, because light doesn’t burn in an empty room or next to daylight – presence and daylight control are two functions that pay for themselves in most buildings. The building stays flexible: when a tenant or the floor plan changes, the lighting zones change in software, not in the cabling. User comfort grows, because the light behaves as expected and the same way throughout the building. And the building gains a face: dynamic light on the façade, in the lobby or in public space is part of the architecture, not an add-on.
Honestly: where automation makes no sense
Our first question to the client is not “which system” but “whether at all, and where”. Automation pays off where use varies: offices, schools, retail, corridors, car parks, warehouses, public spaces, façades. Where the light is always on in the same way, or where there are two luminaires behind one switch, an ordinary switch or a sensor built into the luminaire is a better solution than a bus system.
That is why we walk through the building with the client and mark where automation creates value and where it is simply a cost. The result is a smaller, more reliable system – and a client who knows what they are paying for.
Which system for which building
There is no one right system in lighting automation. There is the size of the building, its use, the budget and the question of whether a cable can be run or not. Halored works with systems from four manufacturers and our specialists know them inside out – that is why we can choose what suits the project, not what we are used to.
Inventronics ja Lunatone
smaller projects
A reliable DALI system for smaller projects that need presence and daylight control, scenes and a simple user interface.
e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT
large and dynamic buildings
A very powerful control platform that combines DALI and DMX in one system: functional office lighting and a dynamic façade under the same logic, from a single room to tens of thousands of luminaires. Extensive integrations with other building systems. Our largest installations run on it.
Casambi ja HubSense
wireless systems
When a control cable can’t be run or isn’t worth it: renovation, heritage protection, quick refits, smaller sites. The luminaires form a radio network between themselves, setup is done from an app and the system grows as needed. Wireless and DALI cabling work together where needed: cable where it exists, radio where the cable doesn’t reach.
Lokaalne või tsentraalne?
A local system controls one room or zone and works independently – simple, inexpensive, reliable. A central system sees the whole building: shared schedules, scenes across floors, fault reports in one place, integration with building automation. Most buildings need something in between, and finding that line is the first part of our work.
What we do
Lighting automation succeeds when someone is responsible for it from start to finish – not the designer for one sentence, the electrician for another and the supplier for a third. Halored is that someone.
- 01
We advise the client
Whether and why automation is needed at all, where it creates value and where it doesn’t. Whether a local or a central system fits, wired or wireless. Together we weigh the pros and cons of each solution, its price class and maintenance needs.
- 02
We write the brief for the electrical designer
Together with the client we draw up the lighting automation brief: which zones, what logic, what has to happen in response to what. On that basis the electrical designer can start the design knowing what the client actually wants.
- 03
We advise the engineers during design
We help find suitable products and work out the types and locations of sensors, buttons and control panels. Where there should be a sensor and where a button. What switches a luminaire on, what switches it off and when, what happens after a power cut. We write out the control logic so that it can be designed and installed without ambiguity.
- 04
We commission and start up
We programme the system and visualise the DALI and DMX installations – every luminaire, sensor and button has its place on the diagram. We create the operating logic and set light levels on site, not at a desk. We build lighting scenarios to match how the building is used: workday, evening, cleaning, party, security. We design graphical user interfaces for touchscreens that even someone entering the building for the first time understands. We link the lighting to the building management system (BMS) so the building manages its light from one place.
- 05
We train the users
The system is finished when all its users feel comfortable with it. Our technicians explain patiently – for several hours if needed – what a long and a short press on the switch do, how to change a scene and whom to contact if something isn’t right.
- 06
We stay by the building owner’s side
Our phones and e-mails still work after the keys are handed over. If you need to change what time the outdoor lights come on or after how many minutes the corridor light should go off, we do it. If a luminaire doesn’t come on, we find whether the fault is in its control gear, the sensor or the circuit breaker – before anyone starts replacing luminaires. We offer after-sales service and maintenance throughout the life of the building, also after the warranty ends.
Who we work with
Clients and developers
You get one party responsible, who translates your wishes into language the designer and the contractor understand and checks that the promised logic actually works.
Electrical designers
You get a brief, a product selection and control logic that turn automation design into clear work rather than guesswork. We are an adviser, not a competitor.
Electrical installers
You get a DALI and DMX structure that can be installed, and a partner who comes to site and gets the system running. You do the cabling, we do the programming.
Building owners and facility managers
You get a system you understand, users who have been trained and a number to call when something needs changing.
Why Halored
- Functional and dynamic light at one table
- Most automation companies know one thing: either presence and daylight control for office lighting, or the dynamics of façades and media surfaces. Halored does both and knows how to tie them into one system – a rare combination.
- More than two hundred projects
- Our portfolio holds more than two hundred lighting automation projects: from a small fountain to office buildings dozens of storeys high and shopping centres of 100,000 square metres. We have built systems where tens of thousands of DALI and DMX luminaires work in a single installation.
- We know the systems inside out
- Inventronics, e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT, Casambi, HubSense – not from a presentation, but from real sites. We know what each one can really do and what it can’t, and we choose accordingly.
- We start with a question, not a product
- The first job is to find, together with the client, where automation creates value and where it doesn’t. A smaller, well-considered system is better than a large one that goes unused.
- We stay around
- The same team, the same phone numbers, the same e-mails – five years after the keys are handed over too.
Questions we are often asked
- What is the difference between DALI and DMX?
DALI is the standard for a building’s functional lighting: every luminaire has its own address, can report a fault and behaves reliably for years. DMX comes from stage technology and is fast, for real-time dynamics – façades, media surfaces, colour changes. Most large buildings need both, and e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT controls both from one place.
- Wired or wireless?
In a new building where cable can be run, a DALI bus is reliable and cheap to maintain. In renovation, under heritage protection or in a quick refit, a wireless system wins. Often the right answer is both together.
- Can lighting automation be connected to building automation?
Yes. We link the lighting to the BMS so the facility manager sees lighting, heating and ventilation in one place.
- When should Halored be involved?
Before the electrical design. Then we can write the brief together with the client for the designer to work from, and the locations of sensors and buttons are fixed before the ceiling is closed.
- The system is already in the building and nobody knows how it works. Can you help?
Come and talk to us. We review the system, document it, train the users and set up the logic to match how the building is actually used.
- What do a long and a short press on the switch do?
A short press switches, a long press dims. But come by – our technicians will show you, for as long as it takes.
Tell us how your building is used. We’ll tell you how the light should behave.
The first conversation is free, and it’s most useful before the electrical design begins.