DALI Tunable white, also known as
DALI Tuneable White, allows a user to change light colour temperature –
including intensity – to their preference, within the same fixture.
DALI Tunable white uses a single DALI short address to
control 2 outputs on a special DALI Type 8 driver or ballast, reducing the
number of both DALI short addresses and DALI drivers needed to provide this
tuneable white capability, saving on cost and complexity.
DALI Tunable white helps to
imitate natural light which is aligned to the time of day and has been shown to
increase employee comfort, reduce stress, increase productivity and creativity
and even assist with better sleep.
Why Use DALI Tunable White in Commercial
Buildings?
Use of DALI Tunable white in commercial buildings is
still in its infancy as lighting designers, electrical engineers and employers
come to understand the effect of light on humans more deeply.
The most common usage of DALI
tunable white seen to date is in relation to what is also
known as human-centric lighting. That is, lighting which is focused on the
health and well-being of humans rather than simply acting as a utility to
illuminate a space.

One’s preference for the
colour and intensity of light varies depending on the task and activity being
undertaken as well as the time of day.
As employees become more accustom to
controlling their environment, providing the ability for employees to adjust
the colour and intensity of the lighting in their workspace could increase
productivity, influence well-being and work place satisfaction.
High performing individuals in an organisation
can select a shower of light to stimulate the best response from themselves and
others in different scenarios such as high creative tasks and tasks where
continued high-quality output is required to meet a deadline.
Alternatively,companies may choose to automate
these light colour and intensity changes in common spaces and simulate the
natural ebb and flow of the lighting outdoors, indoors.
Common Uses for DALI Tuneable White

The most common uses for DALI tuneable white
today are 2 fold with the desired outcome to increase wellbeing, occupant
comfort and connection to the workspace and outside world.
Circadian rhythm simulation, whereby the
tunable white lighting system simulates the natural changes in light
experienced outside, inside, throughout the day. This is meant to simulate
one’s daily rhythm and provide a more natural experience to increase happiness
and wellbeing.
The second is Mood and Scene Recall which
provides occupants the ability to select an exact colour temperature for the
task at hand at any time during the day.
Different tasks can be optimised with different
intensity and colour temperature. For example creative tasks are best performed
with a different colour temperature and intensity than a functional task
– for optimum performance.
How to Implement DALI Tunable
White?
There are 2 common ways to make this work on a
DALI Compliant system.
1) Install
a DALI Compliant DALI Type 8 / DALI 209 driver in each fixture which has a
single DALI short address with dual output capability to an integrated cool
white/warm white LED array /board for colour and intensity mixing.
2) Install
2 normal DALI Compliant LED drivers/ ballasts to control 2 discreet warm white
and cool white LED or fluorescent tubes. In this way, each driver/ballast
consumes a DALI address each.
The latter solution will consume more DALI
addresses and DALI power from the DALI line.
A native DALI Tunable white solution may
increase the cost of the single driver for each fixture but will consume fewer
DALI addresses and less DALI power from the DALI line.
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