Changing the clocks? No problem with Grässlin’s astro function

The days are getting longer again, and the clocks are changed to daylight saving time. Time to take a look at a particular function of our Grässlin time switches. In this short blog, we will explain what the astro function actually is and what advantages it brings.

Curse or blessing? Daylight saving time begins

Recently, it happened again. The clocks were set forward by one hour. The idea of changing the clocks dates back to the late 18th century, when the American politician Benjamin Franklin proposed it as a way to save energy. His idea was to make better use of the hours of sunlight by having people adapt their activities to the natural brightness. Over the years, this changing of the clocks has been introduced in many countries around the world and is still practised today. And yet it remains a major bone of contention. Many people feel deprived of their sleep and their natural day and night rhythm by changing the time.

From a technical point of view, changing the clocks also involves a number of obstacles, especially when it comes to lighting. Those operating their lighting with a time switch have to adjust and reprogram it. Even time switches with a fixed changeover between summer and winter time do not reflect the actual daylight conditions. Fortunately, there are smart solutions today, such as the astro function, which solve this problem in a clever way by automatically adjusting the time switch to sunrise and sunset based on geographical data. This does not only cover the changing of clocks, but also the natural course of the seasons with longer and shorter days.

Astro function – lighting to the rhythm of the sun

As soon as the sun sets, the lighting is automatically switched on, or vice versa, when the sun rises, the lighting is switched off. The astro function can be used to control this easily. On normal timers without an astro function, we set the times for the light to come on and go off again. In this way, the light is controlled according to time. But is this enough? What does the astro function do for us?

The time switch with astro function uses the GPS coordinates to determine its location and the sunrise and sunset based on it. In this way, for example, the light can be automatically adjusted to the changing sunset and sunrise times. The lights go on as soon as the sun sets and off again when the sun rises. Now the lights are no longer switched on and off at a fixed time, but when they are actually needed, all year round, without having to reset or adjust the clock again. However, since it is not always dark exactly at sunset, you can use the astro function to set the light to be turned on at a selected time interval after or before sunset. This time interval can be added to the always changing sunrise and sunset times.

Worldwide in use – Grässlin time switches with astro function

Especially around the time change and when the days are getting shorter or longer again, a time switch with astro function can help. The times do not have to be adjusted manually over and over again and it saves energy, which is of course very important nowadays. If you still want to make an adjustment, you can easily do this with our intelligent time switches, like the talento smart, via Bluetooth on your laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Whether in the private, public or professional sector, many problems can be solved with the smart devices from Grässlin Zeitschalttechnik. The talento smart with astro function, for example, is used worldwide. For instance, it controls the lighting in public parks in Canada or air-conditioning systems in bank terminals in Thailand. However, the talento smart is only one of many time switches equipped with the astro function. In the following, we present all devices with astro function.