Specification

Based in the heart of Salford’s Jewish district, Beis Ruchel girls school provides an orthodox Jewish education for children of primary and secondary ages. The complete refurbishment of an existing building now provides a state of the art facility for the local community. Under strict Jewish orthodox law, no person can cause any object to “work” on the Sabbath day; including turning on lights via traditional wall switches or passive infrared detectors. Mode Lighting was chosen by the electrical consultant to provide a solution to this interesting dilemma, to allow the school to still be operational under these conditions. The lighting in each of the 30 plus rooms has either an Evolution switch plate or a PIR to control the lights on non Sabbath days.

Product used

  • Evolution Control Plates

    Offering versatile yet simple control of the Evolution system, the Evolution range of control plates offers adaptable lighting management controls.

  • Evolution Power and Processor Unit

    The Evolution lighting system offers intelligent, multi-protocol control and can handle an expanding range of light sources and control options, to metal halide, fluorescent and LED lighting, with an astronomical time-clock the Power and Processor units are available as standard from 3A to 20A with leading, trailing edge and high power switching versions all linkable to create the desired fully networked system.

Diagram

Product details

The entire system can be overridden by the use of the calendar software running on PC connected into the RS232 interface of the Evolution pack. The calendar software can be set up to turn ON/OFF any of the systems lighting circuits and school bells.

The ingenious part of the system is that the PC software can also disable the PIR’s and switches from being activated on any day set in the calendar software. This level of control provides the head of the school with the ultimate in flexibility and control over the lighting and bells in the school.

With the ability to pre-program calendar entries for Sabbath days, the Evolution system installed at Beis Ruchel takes over control and prevents “accidental switching” whenever it is needed to. The Software runs in the background of the PC, so as long as the PC is running, the software is active, reducing the risk of user error.

The project called for bespoke PC software to work seamlessly with the Evolution system. The Calendar software not only provides the Sabbath control but also rings the school bell, thus reducing the number of systems needed on site. With its dedicated manufacturing and design team based in Hertfordshire, UK it was possible to develop a custom piece of software to suit the specific needs of the school.