Residential Lighting and Title 24

For residential buildings and spaces, all of the lighting requirements are mandatory measures. There are no tradeoffs between lighting and other building features and lighting is not part of any component package under the prescriptive method.  The residential lighting Energy Standards apply only to permanently installed luminaires, including luminaires with easily interchangeable lamps, but do not apply to portable luminaires such as table lamps or freestanding floor lamps.

 

Overview

 

For residential buildings and spaces, all the lighting requirements are mandatory. The residential lighting requirements are different from the nonresidential ones because there are no maximum lighting power threshold for spaces, no required calculation of lighting power, and no prescriptive method for showing compliance. There are luminaire requirements and lighting control requirements for residential lighting installations.

 

The residential luminaire requirements apply to permanently installed luminaires, including luminaires with easily interchangeable lamps. They do not apply to portable luminaires such as table lamps or freestanding floor lamps. The lighting control requirements are focused on dimming and occupancy sensing control requirements for applicable spaces and occupancies.

 

All section (§) and table references in this chapter refer to sections and tables contained in Title 24 California Code of Regulations, Part 6, also known as California Energy Code or the Energy Standards.

 

Indoor Luminaire Requirements

 

A luminaire, which is a light fixture, is defined by §100.1 as a complete lighting unit consisting of a light source such as a lamp or lamps and the parts that distribute the light, position and protect the light source and connect it to the power supply.

 

A lamp is a light bulb or similar separable lighting component. It is defined by §100.1 as an electrical appliance that produces optical radiation for visual illumination with a base to provide an electrical connection between the lamp and a luminaire, and installed into a luminaire. The definition is expanded to clarify that a lamp is not a luminaire and is not an LED retrofit kit designed to replace additional components of a luminaire.

 

The 2022 Energy Standards for residential lighting require all permanently installed luminaires to be high efficacy, as specified in §150.0(k). Permanently installed lighting is defined in §100.1 and examples of permanently installed lighting include:

 

• Lighting attached to walls, ceilings, or columns.
• Track and flexible lighting systems.
• Lighting inside permanently installed cabinets.
• Lighting attached to the top or bottom of permanently installed cabinets.
• Lighting attached to ceiling fans.
• Lighting integral to exhaust fans.
• Lighting integral to garage door openers if it is used as general lighting, is switched independently from the garage door opener, and does not automatically turn off after a pre-determined amount of time.

 

The following are examples of non-permanently installed lighting:

 

• Portable lighting as defined by §100.1 (including, but not limited to, table and freestanding floor lamps with plug-in connections);

• Lighting installed by the manufacturer in refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, exhaust hoods for cooking equipment, refrigerated cases, vending machines, food preparation equipment, and scientific and industrial equipment;
• Lighting in garage door openers which consists of no more than two screw-based sockets integrated into the garage door opener by the manufacturer, where the lights automatically turn on when the garage door is activated, and automatically turn off after a pre-determined amount of time.

 

Residential Luminaires – High Efficacy by Default

 

Luminaires in any of the following categories are automatically classified as high efficacy and do not have to comply with the requirements of Reference Joint Appendix JA8.

 

• Pin-based linear fluorescent luminaires using electronic ballasts.

• Pin-based compact fluorescent luminaires using electronic ballasts
• Pulse-start metal halide luminaires.
• High pressure sodium luminaires.
• Luminaires with induction lamp and hardwired high frequency generator.
• LED luminaires installed outdoors.
• Inseparable solid state lighting (SSL) luminaires containing colored light sources for decorative lighting purpose.

 

Recessed downlight luminaires must meet the JA8 requirements. Screw-based luminaire types must have a JA8-compliant light source or lamp installed in them at the time of inspection. All other luminaire types must also meet the JA8 requirements. 

 

(Excerpted from the CEC Title 24 Residential Compliance Manual)