How does a DALI emergency system compare to other wired and wireless systems on the market? Well below is an detailed look at why a DALI emergency System is Superior to the competition.

To look at the difference in detail we will need to compare the systems when used in the same scenario, which is as follows

Example scenario wiring costs: Calculate the cost of wiring 50 units (40 light fittings 2x36W and 10 emergency devices) Assuming the fittings are spaced at 2 meters and that the fittings are located over 5 rooms.

To solve this scenario we made the following assumptions

• The distribution board is found in the centre of the building
• Each room has 8 fittings in a 2x4 arrangement
• Assume that 5 core cable costs 1.8x the cost of 3 core cable
• Assume that Cat5 Costs the same as 3 core cable
  
  
  

Comparison:Standard configuration

Footnote: The monitored emergency system in this calculation is of a type which uses cat5 as its communication interface. The costs in this calculation has been normalized against the cost of a standard installation, that being a Normal lighting system used with a normal non monitored Emergency system. DALI Emergency reduces the wiring required in the building when use in conjunction with a DALI lighting system

A complete DALI solution uses approximately 10% less cabling than a standalone monitored emergency system with normal lighting and approximately 23% less cabling than a DALI system with separate monitored emergency system

Also A complete DALI solution uses approximately 11% less cabling than a wireless Emergency monitored system with DALI Lighting

Footnote: DALI emergency + DALI Lighting systems in this example has less lighting circuits than the other systems. This reduces the complexity of wiring in the roof and should reduce the cost associated with maintenance or additions in the roof cavity

Footnote: The control system for DALI Emergency as a Emergency lighting system should be no more expensive than the competitors systems, However the total cost of the system is reduced when using both DALI lighting and DALI emergency lighting in the same installation.The normal Lighting system will require some cost to install a test switch as required under AS2293. Having 2 control systems in a building is roughly twice the cost of installing one.

Footnote: Having one system to control both the emergency and normal lighting system has a high potential in reducing costs. One system reduces the required training by approximately 50%, One system also reduces the maintenance cost and reduces the building complexity while offering higher flexibility.

Since DALI is an open standard building owners can choose from a number of control systems on the market. This leads to greater competition and lower installation prices.

Comparison:24h power circuit or backup generator configuration

Footnote: When a 24 hour lighting circuit or a generator circuit is introduced into the application a DALI system now uses 13.5% less cabling than a standard installation and 46.5% less cabling than a DALI system using another Monitored Emergency system.

Footnote: Increasing the complexity by adding a 24hour power circuit or backup generator supply has no impact on the number of DALI circuits but the number of circuits for the solutions are increased.

Misconceptions of wireless Monitoring systems

• WAC's (Wireless Area Controller) still need to wired around the building. Each WAC needs to be wired together adding to the wiring cost.( also each WAC adds to the system cost)
• RF communication is not always available and then needs to be wired. ( either with WAC or Repeaters)
• The signal cannot travel for large distances and therefore needs to use repeaters (extra cost) which require power to be wired( extra cost).
• The RF Signal is similar to that of the old cordless phones which have been obsoleted by newer more secured technology.
• Possibility of interference from other devices in the building
• Increased radio wave pollution in the building
• RF signals loose energy when transmitted through dense objects such a Walls and floors. This reduces the chance that the signal can pass through dense objects which may require a WAC to be wired.
• Each Wireless emergency device still requires to have Power cabled to the unit.
• Wireless Proprietary Monitoring systems are not the defined as an international method for controlling emergency devices ( DALI is)
• Wireless Technology is more expensive to manufacture and this cost is usually passed onto the customer or building owner




Benefits of DALI over other emergency systems

• DALI does not require any termination of cables
• DALI can run up to 300m with only 1.5mm^2 cable
• DALI has a high signal to noise ratio, which means that it is less prone to interference
• DALI can be wired in chains, trees and branches and needs no special hardware or stub matching
• DALI is an open standard and will help to reduce costs through competition
• DALI is a medium cost to manufacturer
• DALI does not produce RF interference
• DALI does not require segregation from the mains cables
• DALI is supported by all major lighting manufacturers
• DALI has a wide range of control systems which installers can choose from
• DALI has many other tools and solutions available.










All care has been taken to ensure this data is as accurate as possible, Should you note some information which is incorrect please inform us. Data about a wireless control system has been obtained from the Legrand website and other sources and was correct as of the 1/3/2007. Comparisons made assume best case installation for ALL systems. Information on how the data was calculated can be found here.