1. What does T.E.A.M.
stand for?
T.E.A.M. was founded on July 20th, 1978 by John Anderson, Jim
DeHaven, and John Manos, three independent manufacturers' agents who represented the same
lighting companies in their respective territories in North Carolina. The three (triangle)
saw a need for intra-territorial coordination of specifications, projects, and synergy of
manufacturers under one name. Triangle Electrical Associates
for Manufacturers was formed to create this association.
T.E.A.M. has offices in Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, and Greenville.
In 1998, Terry Ramos
exercised his twenty year independent option and formed the
TEAM Greenville office.
FAQ (Did you know that slave/master wiring saves money
and labor BUT it is also the law?)
2. What is slave/master wiring? (also known as
master/satellite or tandem wiring).
Slave/master wiring is a technique usually implemented by a lighting
manufacturer wherein a pair of lighting fixtures share common ballasts. The benefit of
this technique allows fewer ballasts in the combination, thus reducing material costs,
energy, and field labor. Usually this technique is found in recessed lay-in fluorescent
fixtures having three lamps in each fixture. An example would be a pair of fixtures which
have one (1) 4 lamp ballast in the master servicing the two outboard lamps of each fixture
and one (1) 2 lamp ballast in the master servicing the center single lamp in each fixture.
The manufacturer normally furnishes the pre-wired greenfield and wiring between the master
and the slave with a dedicated footage specified by the spacing of the fixtures in a room.
By pre-wiring the slave at the factory the labor has been eliminated in wiring the slave
in the field by expensive contract labor.
Also it is now the law in North Carolina: Excerpted from the ASHRAE/IES
90.1:
401.3.5.1 TANDEM WIRING. One-lamp or three-lamp fluorescent luminaires that are recess
mounted within 10 ft center-to-center of each other, or pendant mounted, or surface
mounted within 1 ft. of each other, and within the same room, shall be tandem wired,
unless three-lamp ballasts are used.
401.3.5.2 POWER FACTOR. All ballasts shall have a power factor of at least 90%.
Exceptions:
I. Dimming ballasts
and
II. Ballasts for circline and compact fluorescent
lamps and low-wattage HID lamps not over 100 W.
3. What is the IES?
The IES stands for the Illuminating Engineering Society. This
national organization was founded to increase the professional, scientific and commercial
aspects of lighting (predominately artificial lighting). The IES has an East Carolina
Chapter which was co-founded by TEAM partner , John Anderson in 1976. We meet on the
fourth Monday at 12:00 Noon at the Carolina Power & Light Solutions Center in Raleigh.
Watch our web page for upcoming events.
4. Is it possible for a light fixture to produce a
coefficient of utilization greater than 1.0?
Yes. When light fixtures are tested for efficiency this measures the
fixture's ability to project a percentage of lumens from a bare lamp relative to that
lamp's lumen output. If a lamp has 100 bare lumens and then it is put in a light fixture
and measured with 87 lumens, then it has 87% efficiency. However, the coefficient of
utilization measures the efficacy of a lighting fixture's ability in a given room. If a
room has very high reflectances, light can be reflected back into the light fixture and
increase its ability to perform in the desired area.