Motion detecting power boards?

[Sammas]

Hi all,

On the plight to better energy efficiency, would anyone have any leads on simple to install, straight forward to use motion detecting power boards/4-ways or something similar?

The scenario is: 20 or so production suites and studios, where the computer monitors turn on when someone enters the room. Unfortunately the usual click-to-wake-from-sleep that computers have isn't adequate. Some of the studios have as many as 8 to 10 monitors in them, with a lot of the monitors displaying information that needs to be seen at a glance without necessarily ever interacting with the computer.

All I have managed to turn up so far is the usual smart home systems that require an iPhone app and wifi to function. It can work, but due to managed networks and wifi it probably makes the installation more complex than installing a dedicated mains circuit with motion sensor. Neither are ideal, as there are some hefty installation costs involved.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Beware that most IT equipment would not turn on when mains power is re-established.
After a power outage, I need to manually restart all computers and enter password, as well as pressing buttons on monitors, and using the remote control to turn on the speakers.
You must look at presence detectors instead of motion detectors.

 

[JohnRoberts]

80/20 rule... You probably don't want to turn off everything. Most power is consumed by lighting, monitors, and dumb peripheral gear that doesn't need to boot up.

This really sounds like one of those smart home switching gadgets (IOT internet of things) application. There are room lights that detect presence of humans, surely a smart one, could turn on more than the lights, and talk to the other gadgets.

[edit- KISS if possible stick to off the shelf technology to avoid complexity and maintenance/repair issues. /edit]

JR

PS; I just got notified by my utility that my most recent electric bill was 20% lower than my energy efficient neighbors. I attribute my energy savings from a modern technology heat pump for heating/cooling, and a light colored tin roof (makes a difference in the summer).

 

[abbey road d enfer]

. I attribute my energy savings from a modern technology heat pump for heating/cooling, and a light colored tin roof (makes a difference in the summer).

+1!
One of my favourite pet peeve is black cars, which are hotter in the sun and colder in the cold. Considering the overall extremely poor efficiency of energy transfer between petrol and electricity in a car (70% loss in the engine, 30% in the alternator system -mainly mechanical losses- and heat pump losses), it's an extremely bad choice, all for the pleasure of looking like a drug pusher.
My Kia electric car, although being mainly blue, has a white roof.

 

[moamps]

The scenario is: 20 or so production suites and studios, where the computer monitors turn on when someone enters the room. Unfortunately the usual click-to-wake-from-sleep that computers have isn't adequate. Some of the studios have as many as 8 to 10 monitors in them, with a lot of the monitors displaying information that needs to be seen at a glance without necessarily ever interacting with the computer.

I would try an simple infrared switch used to turn on the lighting when some IR source (human, animal etc.) approaches. Such switches can be programmed to have a longer on time after detection of the IC source, which could be useful.
Computer monitors can be connected to such an switched power source since all monitors are turned on after the power is turned on (they do not go into sleep mode) if a signal from the computer is present.
Computers can also be programmed to wake up after a power failure, and they can also be programmed to never turn off the signal to the monitor because in this case it is controlled by an IC switch.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I would try an simple infrared switch used to turn on the lighting when some IR source (human, animal etc.) approaches. Such switches can be programmed to have a longer on time after detection of the IC source, which could be useful.

Agreed. Much better than motion detectors.

 

[Sammas]

Thanks for the reply everyone. I was really hoping someone may have developed something that was installation grade, and seamlessly plug and play!

The IOT stuff will technically work, but it departs from the KISS rules quite considerably in this instance. A bunch of these rooms are on-air facilities. It becomes another app/device that audio operators need to be across in case something goes wrong, another series of support tickets to IT to access network settings and connections to get everything set up, another series of tickets through tech support to get things appropriately tested and tagged, etc, etc. It snowballs into quite a substantial job, despite the seemingly simplistic nature of IOT stuff.

At this stage I think we are just going to get an electrician in to see what can/can't be retrofitted within the existing infrastructure. There is already sensor activated lighting in each room, though it is also attached to a pair of dimmers. There is also a temperature sensor and (in theory at least) a bunch of off-air comms microphones that could also be used as sensors of some form.

It still involves support tickets, etc, but it is more fitting for the nature of the studios.