Occupancy Sensor definition

Keith, Good question. I would say the timer you mention would not be considered equivalent to an occupancy sensor. Lights on a timer are like occupancy sensors in that they are tied to the people entering the space needing to turn on the lights to initiate the timer. However, the timed control does not offer the same utility or energy savings in that it could turn off and then need to be turned on again, reinitiating a new timed cycle when the room is potentially not occupied, where as the occupancy sensor is nearly invisible to the occupant and (depending on the setting) turns lights off after only a few minutes of inactivity.