How can a professional DIALux calculation cost only US$15?

US$15 was not copied from somebody else's market price

The first question was not, "How cheaply can a DIALux calculation be sold?" It was, "What is the smallest useful calculation service that can be defined clearly and delivered repeatedly?" Those questions lead to very different prices. The first encourages a headline discount; the second starts with the actual work.

LUXGRID did not treat every enquiry as the same large consultancy appointment and then discount it. We separated a focused validation task from full lighting design. Once that smaller unit was defined, work that did not belong to it could be removed from the price instead of being charged to every customer as a precaution.

The result is a US$15 professional DIALux calculation price, available through 21 October 2026 for an eligible standard scope. It is a controlled launch price for a controlled piece of work. It is not a claim that every lighting project, every report or every hour of specialist work is worth US$15.

Step 1: separate layout validation from layout design

Many customers already have a proposed luminaire, mounting height and uniform X by Y arrangement. Their immediate question is whether that supplied arrangement produces the required illuminance and a usable uniformity result in the stated area. They are not necessarily asking somebody to develop the complete lighting concept from zero.

That distinction removes a major source of imprecise pricing. A designer who must study several products, develop the quantity, compare layouts, coordinate multiple spaces and prepare a tender presentation is doing a larger job. A specialist who receives one complete layout and checks it is doing a smaller one. The US$15 route prices the second task as the second task.

Step 2: define one repeatable unit of work

The standard unit is deliberately narrow: one simple calculation area, one relevant height, one luminaire type, one customer-supplied uniform X by Y grid, standard illuminance and uniformity results, one reasonable revision and the flexible service queue. The customer supplies usable geometry, the exact product identification and suitable IES or LDT photometric data.

This definition makes the price testable before work begins. If the brief fits, the standard route applies. If the project contains several areas, irregular or obstruction-heavy geometry, more than one luminaire type, manual placement, layout development, advanced technical checks, a larger report, extra revisions or urgent delivery, it is no longer the same unit and the quotation changes for a visible reason.

Step 3: remove services the customer did not buy

A standard-calculation customer is not automatically charged for a site visit, a full lighting concept, multiple product alternatives, electrical design, structural coordination, authority liaison, tender documentation or an unlimited revision allowance. Those can be legitimate requirements on a larger project, but including all of them in every small validation price would make the customer pay for work that was never requested.

Removing unrequested work does not mean silently omitting necessary work. It means declaring the boundary. If an added service is required to answer the real project question responsibly, LUXGRID identifies it before treating the quotation as complete. Precision pricing depends on a clear scope, not on forcing an unsuitable project into US$15.

Step 4: standardise the handover without standardising the answer

A guided intake collects the same essential inputs in the same order: layout route, geometry, area count, mounting information, luminaire types, file readiness, required checks, deliverable level, revisions and timing. A repeatable intake reduces avoidable clarification and allows a small, complete project to move through a lean workflow.

The calculation itself is not replaced by a generic answer. The model still uses the submitted geometry and product photometry, and the result can still show that the proposed layout is unsuitable. Standardisation applies to the process and scope boundary; it does not turn different luminaires or rooms into the same technical result.

Why area size and luminaire quantity do not automatically increase the standard price

Inside one simple supplied grid, the main work is preparing the area, placing the known arrangement, assigning the exact luminaire data, calculating the result, reviewing the output and issuing the agreed handover. A larger rectangle or a higher X by Y count can change the lighting result significantly, but it does not automatically create a different service category when the geometry and workflow remain equally simple.

That is why the standard US$15 route does not add an arbitrary area-size or luminaire-count surcharge inside its defined scope. The boundary is complexity, not visual scale. When more luminaires also mean separate groups, different heights, different optics, manual positions, obstructions, aiming or several operating scenes, the additional modelling is real and the price reflects it.

Why US$15 is precise, not cheap

A cheap service usually becomes cheap by compromising something the customer still expected: less checking, unclear inputs, a generic photometric assumption, missing documentation or no practical revision route. Precision pricing works differently. It reduces the amount of service being purchased while keeping the promised work inside that smaller service intact.

For an eligible US$15 calculation, the required geometry is still modelled, the intended photometric file is still used, illuminance and uniformity are still reviewed, assumptions still need to be clear and one reasonable revision is still included. The customer pays less because the appointment is narrower and better prepared—not because the calculation is meant to be careless.

The honest sentence is therefore not, "Every DIALux project is cheap." It is, "A customer should pay for the work this project requires and should not be charged for work this project does not require." US$15 is the clearest expression of that principle for the smallest defined LUXGRID scope.

When the price rises, every increase should correspond to work

The full quotation engine exposes the workload drivers rather than hiding them inside a broad contingency. These include calculation category, layout route and complexity, number of areas, floor area and luminaire quantity where they genuinely affect a non-standard scope, multiple product types, drawing and photometric-file readiness, advanced technical checks, revision rounds, deliverable level and deadline.

Calculating the required X by Y quantity from a target average illuminance is a simple example. That adds a specific task and US$3 to a basic eligible scope, making the standard total US$18. The customer can see what changed, what extra work was purchased and why the price moved.

The same logic applies to larger requirements. Multi-area modelling, layout development, alternatives, glare or emergency checks, compliance schedules, client-ready or tender reporting, additional revisions and urgent handling are not penalties. They are additional pieces of work priced when the client chooses or requires them.

A precise price also needs honest technical boundaries

The US$15 calculation evaluates the agreed product and layout in the modelled conditions. It does not guarantee that a layout will pass, that an unverified installation will match the calculation, that a tender will be won or that an authority will approve the project. A low entry price must never be used to imply a larger responsibility than the service actually accepts.

The supplier or client must confirm that the IES or LDT file matches the exact product offered. Site dimensions, reflectances, obstructions, maintenance assumptions and adopted project criteria must be reliable enough for the intended decision. Electrical design, structural design, product certification, site verification, local compliance and formal approval remain with the responsible project parties unless a separate appointment explicitly says otherwise.

How LUXGRID will keep checking whether US$15 is the right number

Precision pricing is not protected by repeating a slogan. It must be checked against delivered work. During the launch period, LUXGRID can compare the defined scope with actual modelling time, file-review time, communication, revision effort and rework caused by incomplete inputs. A project that repeatedly exceeds the standard workflow is evidence that either the scope boundary or the price needs to be corrected.

That review protects both sides. Customers keep a small, understandable entry service, while LUXGRID avoids pretending that an uncontrolled project can be delivered sustainably for a fixed micro-scope price. The current US$15 validity period creates a clear point to review real order data before deciding the next commercial step.

The promise is simple: pay for what the project needs

For a small, well-prepared validation, the customer should receive a small, well-defined price. For a complex design, the customer should receive a transparent explanation of the additional work instead of an unexplained jump. That is the system LUXGRID is building around its US$15 standard scope and the wider quotation engine.

US$15 matters because it proves a pricing principle, not because the smallest number always wins. The better commercial question is whether the price matches the work. When scope, inputs, output and boundaries are visible, the customer can decide with confidence—and pays for what is actually being delivered.