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Manual on occupancy sensory requirements for the Energy Code

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NaCl-y Pancake

New User
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
Electrical Designer
Most Energy codes adopted today have wording when defining the function of the occupancy sensor.
IECC 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2021 all state that they must manual on or shall be controlled to automatically turn the lighting on to not more than 50 percent power.

It seems like a common practice is to use a Single pole switch in series with an occupancy sensory but what I'm wondering is how/if this actually meets the code requirement for manual on. It seems that most people will just leave the switch on and at that point the occupancy sensor will function to turn the lights on to 100% power automatically. Sure there is a switch so in a way you have to manually turn on the lights but really that's only if the last person who used the space turned the switch off when they left and in commercial/office buildings that seems unlikely.
 
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d0nut

Senior Member
Location
Omaha, NE
If you have to do automatic control to not more than 50%, you cannot use a toggle switch and a line voltage occupancy sensor. You need an actual low voltage lighting control system to meet the requirements of those energy codes.
 
Flicker Index

Flicker Index

Senior Member
Location
Pac NW
Occupation
Lights
One way is to use a manual on, auto-off sensor, or adjust the setting to be it.

If you have two hots going to each fixture, using auto-on for the one bank of less than 50% power (i.e. 1 lamp on in a 3 lamp troffer) and the other bank on manual-on/auto-off mode would satisfy the program you're describing. Some dual circuit occupancy sensor allows you to set separate programming for each circuit, so you can set the 1 lamp side to auto-on, auto off while putting the other one on manual-on/auto-off.
 
brantmacga

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
I’ve been using mostly Greengate controls SP20-RD4 switch packs. They accept LV switch inputs and daylight sensors. Greengate GMDS is the momentary decora switch to use, just route a 2-conductor cable to the switch pack. And pair with whichever occ sensor you need.


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