3.7 Button Controls

Button controls were historically designed for homeowner use in the USA. They would mount 4-5 feet off the ground in a hole in the column supporting a "wrought iron" acorn fixture. Load was often a 60 watt soft white lamp. Voltage was 120 VAC. Switching light levels were determined by the manufacturer whose primary goal was cost reduction. What did the typical consumer care about foot-candles? Guarantee was 90 days or maybe 1 year. Traditional button controls were not utility quality.

However, for the past several years, utilities have been using button controls for decorative or so called architectural fixtures. They are also used in conjunction with relays and contactors to run circuits of multiple fixtures. What was good enough for a post lantern in someone's front yard, didn't do very well in a utility Roadway environment. Suddenly replacement cost included top paid labor. Even small changes in switch points equated to hundreds or thousands of kWh. Burning hours on Button controlled lights were higher with no increase in revenue. Non-surge protected button controls that worked okay when fed off many feet of 14-2 cable attached to a residential circuit breaker box, didn't work when installed on a power line with lots of surges.

By the mid-1990's there were high quality, long life electronic button controls available. These are designed to Roadway Standards and incorporated features that utilities expected from better twistlock controls. Instant ON and 5-10 second turn-OFF delay keep testing simple and yet make the control immune to lightning flashes. MOV surge protection is offered by multiple manufacturers. Silicon sensors or filtered silicon sensors are optional. Quick connectors are available on the leads although ANSI hasn't defined a standard connector. Because of technological improvements, electronic button control life in a Roadway environment can now be as long as 8-15 years.

A U.S. button control standard, ANSI C136.24, is in its final pre-publication stages. Several major utilities have written standards around electronic button controls. These controls permit the use of decorative fixtures without the maintenance expense associated with older style button controls.

Lighting Specifiers can now use button controls knowing that the Roadway installation will be energy efficient, have a long life, and be ascetically pleasing. UL approved versions are also available. Preferred DTL model would be DBE120-1.5-T.