COMMERCIAL LIGHTING SUPPLY / TECHNICAL LIBRARY
Occupancy Sensor Commissioning: Walk Tests & Settings
Technical guidance for commercial lighting specification, product selection, and project planning.
Test the occupied task as well as the entrance
A sensor may detect someone walking through an empty room and still fail to support a person reading quietly behind a partition. In a warehouse, a pass beneath the sensor may say little about picking at a rack face. Commissioning should include the work people actually do and the places where they do it.
For commercial occupancy sensors, the useful result is a marked coverage plan, a demonstrated operating sequence and the final settings. One successful walk-through is only part of that evidence.
Agree on the intended behavior first
Ask the facility representative when the lights should turn on, remain on, dim and switch off. Identify rooms using manual-on operation, areas using automatic-on, any occupied output setting and any standby state. Apply the project's requirements rather than assuming the factory settings are appropriate.
Put those choices in the lighting controls sequence of operations. It should also establish how schedules, daylight controls and manual overrides interact. Otherwise the same observed response can look correct to one reviewer and wrong to another.
| Record | What makes it useful |
|---|---|
| Identity | Room, zone, device identifier, complete sensor model and controlled fixtures |
| Physical conditions | Mounting position, measured height, lens or shielding, furniture and rack arrangement |
| Configuration | Detection technology, sensitivity, normal delay, standby behavior and enabled overrides |
| Observation | Test route, task, initial state, timestamps, expected result and observed result |
| Disposition | Pass, correction required or retest deferred; responsible person and retest date |
Separate detection coverage from timeout
Manufacturers may provide a temporary mode that makes coverage testing easier. Use the mode and preparation described for the exact device. Lutron's wired-sensor instructions 031403, for example, distinguish PIR and ultrasonic feedback in covered models and describe a test mode separate from normal operation. These instructions are not a procedure for microwave sensors or every Lutron product.
Mark repeatable checkpoints on the room plan. Include the normal entrances, travel paths, workstations and least active occupied tasks. Test with the expected furniture, partitions and door positions. Keep the observer's movement from becoming the event that holds the zone occupied.
After coverage is assessed, return the system to its intended operating mode and test the timing. If the sequence has a delay to standby and a later delay to off, identify each event and the point from which its timer runs. Test the complete lighting response, not only a sensor indicator.
Use timestamps for the timing test
Suppose the last documented movement occurs at 14:02 and the lights reach the expected standby state at 14:12. The observed interval is ten minutes. This verifies the arithmetic of that observation; it does not make ten minutes a universal code limit or recommended setting.
If someone enters at 14:08, the original timing run has changed. Note the intervening event and repeat the test under the intended conditions. This is more reliable than estimating the delay from memory after several people have moved through the room.
Preserve both temporary test settings and restored operating settings. A dated configuration export or clear photograph can help show what was left in service. For shared software settings, include the device-to-zone assignment as well as the numeric values.
Look for motion that should not control the zone
Test adjacent corridor traffic, neighboring aisles and ordinary door movement where they may affect the sensor. Observe normal equipment operation safely. A zone that never becomes vacant may be receiving unintended detections, an override or another control command.
Lutron's occupancy guidance discusses model-specific coverage, blocked views and potential influence from nearby heating or air-conditioning sources. Use the selected manufacturer's troubleshooting approach to investigate the actual device and conditions.
The PIR and microwave comparison helps frame technology choices. Detection technology, mounting and surrounding construction belong in the investigation; a sensitivity adjustment alone may not resolve a poor location.
Change one variable and repeat both kinds of test
Follow the manufacturer's procedure when adjusting sensitivity, masking, aiming or placement. After a correction, repeat the intended occupied-task test as well as the unwanted-detection test. Reducing sensitivity can remove nuisance activation while also making a quiet workstation harder to detect.
For sensor-equipped UFO high bays, assess the installed height, rack geometry and activity at the served locations. A coverage illustration at another height is useful context, but it does not accept the actual aisle arrangement.
For garage lights with sensors, distinguish vehicle arrival from pedestrian movement. Define the required response for both and check how adjacent zones interact, including any intended lighting ahead of a person or vehicle.
Leave a usable follow-up process
Agree on a period of occupied observation and a simple way to report the room, time and activity involved in a complaint. Keep manual overrides visible. A zone held permanently on can conceal detection problems while eliminating the intended vacancy response.
Close commissioning with the final configuration, accepted observations and any assigned retest. Revisit affected coverage when racks, partitions or room use change. Successful commissioning establishes usable lighting and the intended sequence; demonstrating energy savings requires a separate baseline and operating-energy comparison.