Quick Answer: PoE Touch Panels & Smart Lighting in Canada

Smart lighting and room control often end up with multiple low-voltage power supplies, proprietary power buses and vendor-specific gateways scattered in ceilings and closets. Every extra PSU, hub and mystery box is something that can fail, be miswired or get missed on a drawing.

With GRID TOUCH10 PoE touch panels and POE-Jack® in-wall PoE switches, the control points become standard in-wall PoE endpoints. A single 23-AWG Cat6e cable (e.g. POEJC6E-CMP universal plenum) from a GRID PoE switch feeds power and data to an APOEJK2-WH in-wall PoE wall plate, which then powers:

• One or more 10" Android PoE touchscreen panels (TOUCH10-BK/WH) for room booking or control.
• Lighting or automation gateways that speak DALI, 0–10 V, KNX or vendor-specific protocols.
• Small sensors or IoT bridges that would otherwise need their own PSUs.

The result is cleaner walls, fewer PSUs, better UPS-backed power, and a consistent “one cable per PoE room booking panel or PoE wall tablet” story that IT, lighting and AV teams in Canada can all agree on.

Who This Guide Is For

• Commercial automation and lighting integrators designing smart lighting and control systems for offices, MDUs, education and healthcare.
• AV firms building meeting rooms, collaboration spaces and amenity rooms that need touch-based PoE room booking panels and control.
• Smart building designers looking for DC-first, PoE-friendly strategies instead of proprietary low-voltage buses.
• Owners, IT and facility teams who want predictable wiring, UPS-backed control and fewer power “mystery boxes” in ceilings.

At-a-Glance: PoE Touch Panel & Lighting Patterns with TOUCH10

These three patterns cover most Canadian projects that standardise on GRID TOUCH10 10" Android PoE touch panels, APOEJK2-WH in-wall PoE wall plates and GRID PoE switches.

Why PoE Is Ideal for Touch Panels and Lighting Controllers

Touch panels and lighting controllers consume modest power, but they are mission-critical control points. Powering them over PoE rather than scattered PSUs has several advantages:

• Single cable per control point. PoE provides both power and data over one Cat6e run, so electricians and integrators aren’t fighting over outlet locations at every panel.
• UPS-backed, monitored power. GRID PoE switches like POEJK-S8-240 (industrial, −40 °C to 80 °C) and POEJK-S48-750E live on clean, UPS-backed circuits with SNMP and logging.
• Standard Ethernet instead of proprietary buses. A 10" Android PoE touchscreen panel looks like another network device, not a one-off lighting keypad with a custom bus.
• Easier moves/adds/changes. Need to move a room’s PoE wall tablet or add one in a new amenity space? Pull one more Cat6e, land it on POE-Jack® and you’re done.
• Better documentation. IT can see which switch port powers which panel; lighting can see which PoE plate feeds which gateway.

How POE-Jack® Simplifies Power and Data for Control Points

POE-Jack® takes the “PoE to every control point” idea and makes it practical at scale by concentrating PoE power locally in an in-wall PoE switch instead of back at the rack.

• APOEJK2-WH is an in-wall 4-port Gigabit PoE switch wall plate – one cable in from the switch, up to four PoE devices out.
• Touch panels, gateways and small sensors become simple PoE devices on short drops from the plate, not long individual home runs to the rack.
• Each APOEJK2-WH sits at the convergent edge of your DC microgrid, taking a PoE feed from the central switch and fanning it out to room hardware.

In practice, that means your typical control point has:

• One backbone 23-AWG Cat6e cable from the GRID PoE switch (often POEJC6E-CMP).
• One in-wall PoE wall plate switch (APOEJK2-WH).
• One TOUCH10 panel plus one or two low-power gateways or sensors.

Instead of dozens of small PSUs, you have a small number of well-documented PoE wall plates acting as hubs for control hardware.

Standardising Room-Control BOMs with POE-Jack® and TOUCH10

The more buildings you touch, the more you want a standardised bill of materials. By treating GRID TOUCH10 as your default PoE wall tablet and APOEJK2-WH as the default in-wall PoE hub, you can create simple, repeatable BOMs:

• Small meeting room: 1× Cat6e drop, 1× APOEJK2-WH, 1× TOUCH10, 1× lighting gateway.
• Large boardroom: 2× Cat6e drops (door & credenza), 2× APOEJK2-WH plates, 1–2 TOUCH10 panels, gateways, occupancy sensors and maybe a signage player.
• Corridor / zone: 1× plate per control cluster driving gateways and a small PoE sensor hub; optional TOUCH10 where needed.

Once the patterns are defined, designers and estimators can reuse them. Owners see consistent hardware across their portfolio, and support teams aren’t relearning a new panel and PSU combo on every project.

Wiring Patterns for Meeting Rooms, Corridors and Amenity Spaces

Meeting room pattern

• One 23-AWG Cat6e backbone from PoE switch to each entrance panel location.
• Terminate at a single-gang box with APOEJK2-WH.
• Short patch to GRID TOUCH10 in a flush-mount bracket; second short patch to the room’s lighting or AV gateway as needed.
• Optional second plate at the credenza for local gateways or tiny desktop controllers.

Corridor / zone pattern

• Backbone Cat6e trunks run down the corridor, landing at defined “zone plates” (APOEJK2-WH).
• Each plate powers one lighting gateway and possibly a small PoE sensor aggregator.
• TOUCH10 panels appear only where human interaction is needed; otherwise, control is automatic.

Amenity space / lobby pattern

• One APOEJK2-WH behind the main display wall, fed from a PoE switch port reserved for that space.
• TOUCH10 panel at a comfortable height for guests or staff.
• Optional POEJK-DS1 signage player or HDMI-over-IP receiver on the same plate for digital signage.

Benefits for Integrators, IT and Owners Over Proprietary Power Buses

Traditional lighting and control systems often rely on proprietary LV power buses and gateways that live somewhere above the ceiling. In contrast, a POE-Jack® + TOUCH10 approach offers:

• Fewer proprietary parts. Panels and gateways look like standard PoE devices; cabling is Cat6e, not special multi-core bus cable.
• Shared infrastructure with Wi-Fi, signage and security. The same PoE plant can power access points, signage players and other building tech.
• Better handoff between lighting and IT. Each control point has a clear network port and PoE budget; IT can monitor it like any other endpoint.
• Easier lifecycle upgrades. When the control app or platform changes, you can often update software or swap out a gateway without re-pulling cable or power.
• Alignment with DC microgrid thinking. Centralised PoE power, fewer AC/DC conversions, and cabling designs that support future DC infrastructure.

Install & Design Notes for Canadian Projects

Installer’s take – cleaning up panel walls

In many retrofit meeting rooms, installers find a tangle of LV PSUs and surface boxes behind touch panels. Moving to a single in-wall PoE wall plate with a PoE touch panel and gateways cleans up the wall, reduces future troubleshooting time and makes the work look like intentional infrastructure instead of a pile of add-ons.

Installer’s take – IT wants everything on PoE

IT teams increasingly ask for “everything possible on PoE and UPS.” When touch panels, gateways and controllers are all fed from GRID PoE switches, the network group can use their standard monitoring and alerting tools, and facilities know that power behaviour during outages is defined and tested.

For Canadian projects, also consider:

• Using plenum-rated Cat6e where cable passes through return-air spaces.
• Respecting bend radius and pull tension, especially in tight risers and tray systems.
• Mounting TOUCH10 panels in conditioned spaces; the PoE switches can handle extended temperature if you choose industrial models.

Canada-Ready Checklist: PoE Touch Panels & Smart Lighting

• ✓ Each touch panel and gateway is powered from a central PoE switch, not local PSUs.
• ✓ Every control point uses a single 23-AWG Cat6e PoE drop landed on an APOEJK2-WH in-wall PoE wall plate.
• ✓ GRID TOUCH10 panels are specified for the environments they’re used in (indoor, conditioned spaces).
• ✓ Cable types and routing meet Canadian fire and building codes (plenum where required).
• ✓ Lighting and IT teams have a shared drawing showing which PoE plate and switch port feed each control point.
• ✓ PoE budgets include headroom for firmware updates, added devices and possible future higher-draw gateways.

FAQ: PoE Touch Panels & Smart Lighting with GRID TOUCH10

Can I safely power room control touch panels over PoE?

Yes. GRID TOUCH10 panels are designed as PoE-powered Android touchscreens that draw power from standard 802.3af PoE ports. When you pair them with APOEJK2-WH in-wall PoE wall plates and GRID PoE switches, the entire control point runs on structured cabling and centralised PoE power instead of local PSUs.

How does a POE-Jack® plate help with smart lighting layouts?

A POE-Jack® plate like APOEJK2-WH turns each control location into a small PoE hub. One Cat6e run from the switch becomes up to four PoE ports in the wall for touch panels, gateways and sensors. That lets lighting designers think in zones and nodes, while IT still sees a single, well-documented PoE drop per location.

Why would I choose PoE over proprietary lighting power buses?

Proprietary buses tie you to specific controllers and cabling. PoE touch panels and gateways still talk to those systems where needed, but their power and data ride on standard Ethernet with PoE. That means simpler cabling, easier UPS integration and more flexibility if you change lighting vendors in the future.

Will this complicate or simplify coordination between lighting and IT?

It usually simplifies it. Lighting teams can keep using the control protocols they know, while IT gets a clear inventory of PoE endpoints and switch ports. Everyone can see the same diagrams, and troubleshooting often becomes “check this PoE plate and switch port” instead of hunting for hidden power supplies.

How does this compare on cost vs dedicated PSUs and hubs?

You pay a bit more per drop for in-wall PoE wall plates and PoE switch capacity, but you save on dedicated PSUs, extra circuits and labour chasing outlets. Over a portfolio of rooms and buildings, most integrators find that a PoE-first, POE-Jack®-centric design is more predictable to install, cheaper to maintain and easier to expand.

Always follow local electrical and building codes, confirm power budgets against the published specifications for each product, and coordinate with both IT and the authority having jurisdiction before standardising PoE touch panels and smart lighting on any project.