Harnessing the Power of Energy Management
Recent advancements have the limelight shining on power supplies, particularly where access control is concerned.
Power supplies typically suffer one of two fates during the life of a project. Often they are the first thing to be value-engineered out of an access control system. Alternatively, an installer might just install the same power supply on every job simply because it works.
While power supplies have previously taken a backseat to sexier system components such as integrated maglocks and multi-attribute credentials, several recently released power supply products have stepped into the spotlight by reducing system costs for building owners, while increasing integrator and installer profitability. Such newer power products provide access control efficiency, reliability and remote system diagnostics.
Achieving Higher Efficiencies
It’s impossible to talk about the efficiency of an access control system as only measured by the efficiency of a power supply. There has been a trend toward lower power locking devices in the marketplace. Solenoid-based devices have steadily been decreasing in power draw and now you can find solenoids that draw 1A of inrush power or less. Additionally, some manufacturers have moved away from solenoids entirely using motors and other electronic actuators that draw less than a half-amp of inrush and holding currents approaching 15mA or less. This is leading to a shift in power supply design and application.
Previously in a failsafe application, the majority of the power consumption of the door was associated with the locking device. With the new lower power locks, 90% or more of the door’s power consumption can be attributed directly to the power supply. This is due to a number of factors including the latent power consumption of relays on the power supply as well as the tendency to oversize power supplies for the application. The latter is more evident when an installer uses the same power supply on every job. As a result, at least one power supply manufacturer has moved to provide power supplies more closely tied to the actual consumption of the locking devices. Closely pairing a low-powered lock with a comparably sized power supply can reduce power consumption of the door by 90% or more compared to solenoids on an oversized power supply.
Previously in a failsafe application, the majority of the power consumption of the door was associated with the locking device. With the new lower power locks, 90% or more of the door’s power consumption can be attributed directly to the power supply. This is due to a number of factors including the latent power consumption of relays on the power supply as well as the tendency to oversize power supplies for the application. The latter is more evident when an installer uses the same power supply on every job. As a result, at least one power supply manufacturer has moved to provide power supplies more closely tied to the actual consumption of the locking devices. Closely pairing a low-powered lock with a comparably sized power supply can reduce power consumption of the door by 90% or more compared to solenoids on an oversized power supply.
The adaptation of low-powered locks has also opened up the market to integrated Power over Ethernet (PoE) door locks. Integrated PoE locks are a world apart from what are being marketed currently as PoE-compatible or PoE-friendly products. Simply put, an integrated PoE product will accept a Category-5 cable directly into the lock body, and run off of the 50V typical of PoE or PoE+ injector. PoE-compatible products are merely locking devices that are compatible for use with a door controller that accepts a PoE input. This distinction is important.
Integrated PoE products actually physically decrease the number of components in the access control system by integrating the door controller directly into the locking device. This accomplishes two things.
First, the overall power consumption of the system is reduced, because you have fewer components drawing and consuming power. Second, it reduces the number of possible failure points in the access control system. As an installer or the person troubleshooting a system with a failure, each splice point is a potential point of failure within the system that can contribute to the overall failure of a door to perform as expected. With integrated PoE locks, splices and components are kept to a minimum. Additionally troubleshooting is made easier by the plug-and-play nature of the integrated product. Simply plug in to the Cat-5 and see whether or not data is being transferred.
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