Luminetworx PoE Lighting FAQ

At LV Energy Systems we realize the need for instant answers therefore we have created the Luminetworx PoE Lighting FAQ. Here you will find answers to all kinds of common questions that clients have asked. We have tried to make it as inclusive and intuitive as possible. Some FAQ’s will contain links to other pages on the website or to industry experts as a point of reference. If you still do not see the answers you need please feel free to click here and contact us . Please keep in mind that we are always eager and happy to speak to anyone who has unanswered questions or just wants to discuss a project. The Luminetworx PoE Lighting FAQ is constantly being updated so please check back often for updates.

Every Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting systems includes our lighting controls system.

LV Energy Systems has partnered with the Olympus B.A.S and has a full native integration with the building automation system. Additionally through the API we are able to integrate with almost any existing B.A.S that might already be installed.

We have not pursued any compliances in Australia as we have not had enough interest from Australia. But we are open to working with a local company to do so.

Yes, once you have installed and logged into the mobile app you can control them from anywhere in the world.

Yes, any existing street light can be converted to a fully functional Luminetworx™ powered smart pole. However many factors will require some additional engineering in order for this to happen. For example we can’t just install a regular PoE switch, depending on power already at the pole you will need a specialized PoE switch to make this happen. Fortunately LV Energy Systems has already created a managed PoE switch that can operate on a variety of line voltages ranging from 110 – 277 VAC.  It can now power a host of devices without any additional conversion making everything from this point on plug and play. But why convert to PoE? Aside from the technology upgrade the entire pole fully loaded can now operate on under 5 amps.

All installations require the Luminetworx™ brand PoE switches to not void the 5-year warranty. Within the next few months, we will be releasing our advanced feature update for the PoE switch. Full cloud controllability and configuration. Additionally, our self-healing feature will be released.

The short answer is no. Some will tell you that yes this is possible and that it will save you a great deal of money as their system can adapt. That is unfortunately blatantly false. To begin aside from and wireless access points all of your existing network cabling is in the walls and not in the ceiling. The second and most important reason is that the power requirements needed from your PoE switch are very specific and anything but an 802.3bt capable PoE switch with the appropriate PoE budget will not work.

Yes, at LV Energy Systems we have PoE fixtures for all needs. Some of the lights we manufacture include, emergency lighting, commercial lighting, residential lighting, high bay lighting, outdoor lighting and many many more. So Luminetwork is suitable for an entire lighting infrastructure in spaces ranging from residential, commercial, entertainment, hospitality and many others.

Yes. All components have been through rigorous testing and certification and have been designed to work exclusively with Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting Controls.  All luminaires bearing the Luminetworx™ brand have been designed for optimized output from ultra-low power.

No.  Not all lights and devices require a dedicated cable run.  Many of our downlights, emergency and exit fixtures, and PoE dimmer switches can be wired in series. 

We have deployed several larger systems in nursing homes and entertainment facilities for the best cost performance on an installation we always install a multipack. A multipack allows us to deploy 6 fixtures or signs on one PoE driver allowing us to deploy up to 48 signs on a less expensive 8 port switch and smaller UPS or in the US UL924 certified inverter.

The answer is no. With the use of our special adapters we are able to use one network drop for every two fixture connections. Or in the case of our 6 pack of recessed lights that number would be 12 downlights per every network drop. Regarding the Luminetworx™ accessories we are able to power 4 devices with one network drop and the use of our specialized adapter.

Yes, and here is why. By using the splitter you will save money on cabling. Secondly you will also expedite the installation as less cable needs to be run and terminated. And the third reason is warranty our tested and certified splitters have been factory tested and will not damage any hardware due to under or over  current issues.

Luminetworx™ PoE lights consume so little bandwidth that they barely register when using a network inspection and testing tool like Wireshark. Most commands are stored in the actual driver and internal communication between motion sensors and light switches happens via Bluetooth.

Yes, the Luminetworx™ 5- Channel driver, which supports CCT tuning (both White & RGB), will be available in 2022.

Yes we do you may look https://lvenergysystems.com/case-study-downloads on this page you will see a few. We are always adding more based on client installation so if you don’t see what you need please reach out to us at 702-602-7719.

Yes, but not only do we have PoE street lighting, we have the industries most energy efficient. We are able to produce 18000 lumens and consume a mere 90 watts or just 1 amp. But here is the most amazing part, we are able to run the network drop at lengths over 1500 feet. Yes that is correct 1500 feet is not a mistake. And we are currently in testing for cable lengths over 2000 feet.

Category: PoE Lighting

Yes, we offer classes for End Users and Contractors that are both structured curriculum or custom. Please see our training page for more details

Yes, Luminetworx™ carries a full line of UL924 certified emergency exit signs and remote batteries for both the US and European markets.

At LV Energy Systems our goal is not to be the installer of the system. However in the begining we have been faced with proving that the tech works therefore have installed many systems in order to achieve the proof of concept phase. But in doing so we have been able to continously improve the Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting System. This has led to a patented installation process and installation components allowing savings during the installation on labor and materials. We are currently signing up resellers and we have distributors internationally. If you would like to learn more about signing up as a reseller please contact us.

Not necessarily. While some Luminetworx™ Certified Dealers are electricians, Luminetworx™ is comprised almost entirely, of low voltage components, and need not be installed by a certified electrician.  However, local laws and building codes prevail, and may require the use of a licensed electrician or low voltage technician (ex. BICSI TECH).  In any case, LV Energy Systems recommends the installation be performed by a Luminetworx™ Certified integrator.  But whether electrician or low voltage integrator, we always suggest contracting only experienced and insured contractors.

 

Yes, we a full lighting control system that is continually being updated by our developement team.

Luminetworx™ PoE high-bay fixtures and sensors have a huge advantage over traditional high voltage systems. First is the obvious removal of high-voltage cabling. Buy beyond that is the energy savings. We are able to power 18000 lumens at only 90 watts of power. Whereas a comparable high voltage unit will use 240 watts for the same output. We also need to consider the advancements in our installation tech allowing us to runf fewer cable and an de-centralized installation.

PoE Lighting is a great solution for all types of spaces – both commercial and residential, civic or private.  We’re the perfect fit for office buildings, warehouses, data centers, hospitals, schools, and campuses; even hotels and other multi-unit residences like apartment buildings and dormitories are a perfect fit.  And while its best when Luminetworx™ is installed in new construction and rehabilitation/renovation projects, Luminetworx™ can just as easily be added to existing infrastructure for a more gradual transition.

Luminetworx™, like other PoE technologies, does not require Category 7 or 8 cabling.  According to National Electric Code NEC, PoE lighting like ours requires so little power that even Category 6 infrastructure is far more than adequate.

Category: PoE Lighting

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is the process of sending electrical power and data over copper wire. The combination of data transmission along with power supplying hardware onto the same RJ45 Ethernet connector allows for the transmission of power over the network cabling.

The number of fixtures you can control is only limited by how many fixtures you can fit in the room. Luminetworx™ PoE light fixtures connect wirelessly to all fixtures a room with the click of one button.

The PoE smart pole currently has a capacity of up to 8, 802.3bt (90 watt) ports. Allowing you to power a variety of lighting, surveillance, sensor and communication devices.

Luminetworx™ PoE lighting is 70% more economical to install and costs upto 90% less to operate and 20% cheaper cost of goods.

Luminetworx™ PoE lighting is 90% more energy efficient than fluorescents and upto 50% more efficient than traditional line voltage LED lights.

According to Cisco https://blogs.cisco.com/networking/3-reasons-to-use-poe-lighting the environmental benefits are far beyond what we imagined. According to Cisco the use of PoE lighting further reduces the strain on the planet by eliminating required materials required to build the product and subsequently reducing Co2 emissions.

Category: PoE Lighting

YES. PoE is safe. Per IEEE standards, PoE is injected into a cable at voltage between 44 and 57V DC, typically 48V DC. Typically, anything less than 35V AC or 60V DC is considered safety extra low voltage (SELV), so by definition, PoE-enabled ports are SELV. That’s not to say that 48V DC can’t shock you (you’d know this if you ever touched your tongue to a 9-volt battery when you were a kid). And no one is recommending that you strip the insulation off of a twisted-pair cable conductor and poke it with your bare hands (especially while soaking wet). But with PoE, you still have little chance of getting shocked from a disconnected cable due to the actual protocol itself. That’s because the power sourcing equipment (PSE) must experience a handshake with the powered device (PD) before any power is delivered. No handshake, no power. That’s quite different than an standard AC power receptacle that is constantly supplying power, regardless of whether you’ve got a device plugged in.

It is a hybrid system with a small PoE controller being installed onsite and access to the interface via our web portal. Access may be granted to whomever the client chooses.

No. The In-wall dimmer switch installs quickly and easily, using the same network cabling as the lights.  For an even faster install, try our wireless, battery-operated model.

There is no requirement. Likely this will fall into the decision of the IT teams to help easily identify the purpose of a category cable’s responsibility when identified in the ceiling/wall/floor.

That questions depends on how you intend to install the Luminetworx PoE lighting system. If you use a centralized model then yes it will take up more space in the IT room the PoE switches do not put out much heat so minimal additional cooling is needed. IF you use a distributed model then the Luminetworx PoE switches can be installed in closets, plenum spaces or any suitable available space. It really depends on how the system installation is designed although putting all the hardware in a centralized server room make things more convenient the size of the space may dictate a decentralized installation model in order to speed up installation and save on cable costs. 

We use a completely separate PoE switch connected to a UL924 inverter to deliver an isolated emergency lighting system.

The ups are a bit more complicated as it is very difficult to get permission to import anything with a lithium battery. For clients in the US most resellers can buy them from a locval supplier to save on shipping costs. That said our battery management module can support over 1000 different ups brands and models. Not all will have the same available features so that is one thing to keep in mind when purchasing one. Also, you must have a network card for communication purposes if you have several units spread throughout a facility. If they are all on the same rack then we can also communicate to the UPS via USB cable ( depending on the brand). So yes, you may purchase them locally. We are currently in beta testing with some local municipalities to automate the monthly or quarterly testing of the emergency lighting system. This feature will perform the battery health check autonomously and then send out a report to the local fire marshal with all the relevant information required to pass the inspection.

Ideally yes, a separate network would be best or at least a separate VLAN. But here is the important thing to remeber the Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting systems does not require you to do so. We have clients that have networks designed as in the example above and flat networks. Luminetworx™ does not have an issue with latency. Becuase of the hidden mesh network that operates on the back end between accessories and the lights and completely independant of any local network.

We recommend the use of cat 6 cabling for all Luminetworx™ installations.

First of all , discontinuing a housing/model that’s a focus model for a big client or a standing order with a distributor would be counterintuitive.   Secondly, if we did [discontinue a focus product], and the replacement was designed for Cat7 or Cat8 (for a reason that has yet to present itself), we would undoubtedly ensure that its replacement would be backward compatible with Cat6.   As you’re talking to the manufacturer, you can count on it.  As to whether the system is universal – it is not; not yet anyway so there are a limited number of third-party OEM integrations at this point.  But we do already have some.  We’re technology partners with Vertiv/Liebert, Tripp Lite/Eaton and others.  We have controls interop with certain Philips lighting products like many of their A19 smart bulbs; and for fixtures that are not compatible, that must run on 120-277, we have a retrofit connector that allows us to control On/Off/Dim and incorporate that fixture into scenes/zones through our controls platform.  To take it a step further, our BMS, Olympus is designed for the specific purpose of integrating with other OEM’s building systems to control and monitor all systems from a single dashboard.  Finally – to answer your example about PoE switches – we use our proprietary switch, the Luminetworx™ GigaLyte-24. The GigaLyte has a power budget of 1KVA. If you can find a comparable switch with a similar power budget that uses the same power distribution standards that’s as cost-effective, and you want to use that to power the lighting, you may.  But you will not be able to use the self healing features that are being implemented into the Olympus lighting control system.

A scene is predetermined light setting. It allows you to control multiple lights at the same time at the press of a button on the in wall light switch or from your smartphone with the Luminetworx™, the professional lighting control portal or via a timer.

The PoE smart pole is the latest innovation from LV Energy Systems. We have designed and created a fully PoE powered street light pole that can, power high output street lights, PTMP air fiber, public wifi, environmental sensors, emergency call boxes and even digital displays. Powered by the Olympus™ control system, the possibilities are endless.

Poe smart pole

The OOC is the newsest addition to the Luminetworx™ Lighting control system which is power by Olympus™. How does the OOC work? What is it for? The OOC is used for advanced lighting controls and B.A.S integration. It is a micro server used for local control of devices, PoE Lights, BMS, FACP, HVAC, PoE Smart pole and more.

Due to the way we convert power our drivers are 95% efficient where traditional high voltage drivers are only 65-80% efficient.

As of today, we utilize approximately one-half of a Cat6 cable’s power throughput potential.  This type of technology – PoE-driven IOT products, low voltage controls and sensors, and automation – consistently favors energy-reductive goals to improve efficiency.  The industry, the government (DOE), and the power utilities all incentivize reductive measures.  So, in the unlikely situation where the next generation of PoE LED Lighting will evolve to become more wasteful instead of more efficient, we can be confident that the Cat6 wiring will be adequate to support up to double the current power throughput. We also use special assemblies to aggregate power distribution and reduce overall wiring.  Once those are removed, the CAT6 infrastructure can be used with any system that uses conventional ethernet for power, connectivity, or both.  Taking it a step further – while CAT7 and CAT8 may become the standard for communicating gigabit and multi-gigabit data packets across a digital network, they have not been merited with improving power resiliency as the copper gauge remains 23 for standard, 22 for plus or enhanced – the same as now with premium Cat6.   As we don’t expect PoE lighting to fizzle, we can conclude that today’s PoE wiring infrastructure will be more than sufficient 15-20 years from now.  And in the unlikely event that we need to supply more power to the future PoE lighting, we can double it.  

That is a great question and a complicated and yet simple one to answer. LV Energy Systems is capable of installing lighting up to 2000′ from the PoE switch. Now most will say this impossible and if you were talking about traditional high voltage lighting then yes. But here is what happens as you try to run traditional line voltage at these distances. First the thickness of the cable would have to be quite large and this is due to “skin effect”. What is skin effect? AC or alternating current, for sake of simplicity turns on and off very quickly to either 50 or 60hz depending on what country you live in. That causes the electricity to flow on the outer surface of the copper cable leaving the core of the cable unused. Therefore the further you want to extend the cable the larger the cable diameter must be in order to deliver the appropriate voltage without voltage drop. DC voltage does not suffer from “skin effect” therefore it is able to use the entire copper cable. So although the wire is much thinner it uses it in its entirety and allows the power to flow greater distances ( very simplified answer) .

We take the security of the Luminetworx™ PoE lighting system and your phone very seriously. We employ computer industry best practices including encryption of the communication between each device and the user. The initial set-up of the system requires the user to be physically inside the property with proximity to each fixture.

In daily use, the system requires the username and password (stored in the app), set by the user at initial setup, for remote access to his lighting. Just as the user protects the username and password to his other on-line accounts, the Luminetworx™ lighting control system username and password must also be protected so that no one else can access the user’s account, lighting, and other connected devices. We recommend that users not share their username and passwords, not write them down where others could access them, or use easy-to-guess passwords such as “password,” home address, birthday, or the same passwords used with other online websites. If the user believes that his password may have been compromised, he should change it immediately.

If you would like to learn more about the Luminetworx™ PoE lighting and controls contact us now.

We support both IOS and Android mobile phone operating systems.

Well, we have several layers of redundancy built into the PoE lighting system. Some are best practices to perform during the installation while others where built in while the system was being designed. Let’s start with power redundancy, This can easily be accomplished with the use of an inverter or even a UPS with battery packs. Additionally alternating the PoE switch and UPS/inverter for each light in a zone allows for a level of redundancy at a macro level. Connectivity, Luminetworx has built redundancy into the core of the PoE driver. Once a luminetworx™ PoE driver is paired to the cloud server the server now sends base configurations to the driver so that in the event that the internet or the local WIFI at the site goes down the PoE lighting system will continue to function as intended. We have also recently added a local microcontroller (Olympus Onsite Controller) as an additional redundancy for more advanced configurations.

This will vary depending on project size, geographical location, type of installation, project needs, etc. It is important to evaluate any connected lighting project with not only energy savings potential but also installation labor and material costs. We have done plenty of financial modeling for projects internationally for more information on calculating ROI for your specific project give us a call to find out more.

Many new features can be enabled with simple firmware upgrades and will automatically be pushed to all installed systems when they become available. Others will require new hardware which may be installed as a new insert or standalone system install.

Category: PoE Lighting

Schedule an appointment to see the Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting system in action at one of our many client installations.

Hardware and software support is US based with a redundant software support in overseas.

PoE lighting enables a facility to integrate into the digital building infrastructure, while allowing the facility to expand network capabilities by working with other systems and collecting data based on user requirements.

In many facilities, the Information Technology (IT) groups have taken on more of the management of building systems. Since PoE networks are well understood by the IT team, it may make sense to bring the lighting systems online with Luminetworx™.

Luminetworx™ PoE lighting has been sold in South Africa, Canada, USA and the UK. Will it work in other countries? The answer is yes the Luminetworx™ PoE switch is compatible out of the box with both 120VAC and 240VAC so it will work in most countries.

Yes, once initially paired all programming is encoded on every fixture, light switch and motion sensor. In the event of an internet outage all devices will continue to function.

Definitely a concern and not to be overlooked in the design and layout of the PoE solution. Options include separating PoE paths, using redundant PoE switches, and even conduit to protect certain feeds of the Category cabling. Just like traditional emergency lighting systems flaws do exist, the challenge is weighing the good and the bad to determine which solution best meets the need of the current project.

50,000 Hours. Guaranteed.  We can confidently make that guaranty as our drivers, when powered by our system, simply do not fail.  They do not step-down power or wick it away into the Ether.  Our sine-wave inverters supply our PoE switches with clean, consistent power; and our network switches supply 30W or less per port to each driver.  Our drivers are not prone to the same damaging power as traditional drivers and ballasts.  For this reason, we must use our own.  Your remark about the competitor’s driver is not completely accurate..  True, many manufacturers make a universal TRIAC or ELV-ready dimming driver that accommodates TRIAC or ELV dimmer switches.  But even the major brands, that furnish drivers like ours like ours do not have such universal compatibility.  Take for instance, Signify (Philips) with their Interact Pro platform: (https://www.assets.signify.com/is/content/Signify/Assets/interact/global/20210510-interact-pro-enterprise-system-guide.pdf ) if you follow the link, see pages 42 – 44 for compatible fixtures – Ledalite, Philips and Daybrite are all their own products.  The closest I could find to “universal” would be Acuity nLight, but they require nLight enabled luminaires, environmental sensors and smart dimmer switches.  And while they make compatibility drivers, the interop isn’t as easy as plug and play so it’s not as easy as a quick swap.