Professional Documents
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LIGHTING IN INTERIOR
SPACES
AYO, EDRIELL G.
CALUB, MARIA KARMINA
INTRODUCTION
Light is something that everyone is familiar with. It comes from many
sources, the main one being our sun, and it provides us with the energy
needed for life. Without it, life as we know it would not exist.
We have learned to harness light and have found many different ways
to utilize it, some of which we now take for granted. For example, we have
mirrors to reflect light, and different types of lenses to alter our
perception of it. The most common examples of this would be people who use
glasses or contact lenses to see better, telescopes to see farther and
microscopes to see objects hundreds or thousands of times larger than
they actually are. Light can also be used for medicine and communication.
The light from lasers is used to perform a number of surgical techniques.
Many telephone cables are now being replaced by fiber optics, which carry
an enormous amount of information in a small space.
Most of the information we receive about our surroundings is provided
by our eyes, We live in a visual world. The eye is the most important sense
organ in the human body, handling around 80% of all incoming information.
Without light, that would be impossible
HISTORY OF LIGHT
Around 300,000 years ago, man began to use fire as a source of
warmth and light.
The glowing flame enabled people to live in caves where the
rays of the sun never penetrated. The magnificent drawings in the
Altamira cave artworks dating back some 15,000 years can only
have been executed in artificial light. The light of campfires, of
kindling torches and oil and tallow lamps radically changed the
way prehistoric man lived.
But light was not only used in enclosed spaces. It was also
harnessed for applications outdoors. Around 260 BC, the Pharos of
Alexandria was built, and evidence from 378 AD suggests there were
lights in the streets of the ancient city of Antioch. Ornamental
and functional holders for the precious light- giving flame appear
at a very early stage in the historical record. But the liquid- fuel
lamps used for thousands of years underwent no really
major improvement until Aimee Argands invention of the central
burner in 1783. That same year, a process developed by Dutchman Jan
Pieter Minckelaers enabled gas to be extracted from coal for
streetlamps.
LIGHTING PRINCIPLES
AND TERMS
Brightness distribution:
When we are in a room, our gaze incessantly switches from near
(desktop) to far (walls). Where there are marked differences in brightness
between these two zones, our eyes face the constant need to re-adapt and
thus get tired more quickly. Visual performance and sense of wellbeing
diminish.
Where the differences in brightness are not marked enough, however,
the room makes a monotonous impression. It is recommended here that
desktop luminance should not be less than 1/3 of the luminance in the
immediate surroundings. For more remote parts of the room, the difference in
luminance should be 1/5, max. 1/10.3.
BRIGHT WALLS: GOOD WALL AND ENTRANCE LIGHTING HELPS PEOPLE GET THEIR
BEARINGS IN A ROOM, MAKES FOR BETTER CONTRASTS AND EMPHASIZES ROOM ZONES.
IT ALSO MAKES THE ROOM LOOK A LOVELIER.
GLARE
Glare is one of the most disturbing side-effects of lighting. Direct
glare caused by marked contrast differences between very bright
and very dark surfaces or due to unshielded lamps in our line of
vision place a strain on our eyes and lead to fatigue and mistakes
through loss of concentration. To avoid direct glare from lamps, care
should be taken to select only luminaries which are suitable for
workplace lighting.
Glare limitation
Glare is one of the most unpleasant visual problems of all. Being
dazzled by a general-diffuse lamp or the reflection of a window on a
computer screen affects our visual acuity and impedes our performance.
Direct and reflected glare can be largely avoided by good room and
lighting design.
Shadowing
Where there is light, there is also shadow. To ensure that shadows do
not impede our view when writing, the light should fall - for a righthanded person- from the left . If the light comes from the right, we write
in the shadow of our own hand.
KINDS OF LIGHT
Ambient Light:
Light that is normally occurring in the
environment where the shot is being made. This would include overhead
lights in stores and offices. It is distinguished from light brought in
especially for the shot. Compare to Natural Light.
Arc Light: Extremely bright instrument in which the light is created
by an electrical arc between electrodes. Arc lights are somewhat blue
in color compared with daylight balanced light.
Stray light: Emitted light that falls away from the area where it is
needed or wanted (light trespass).
Light trespass: Light falling where it is not wanted or needed. Spill
light. Obtrusive light.
Floodlight: A fixture designed to "flood" a well defined area with light.
PSYCHOLOGY OF LIGHTING
A seasoned lighting designer can visualize how a given lighting system
will look and perform within a space. He also can predict how an observer
will react to the system. This insight is gained with experience, of course,
but certain basic relationships of light and space and the psyche are
always present, and are worth mentioning. The first is the location of the
plane of brightness, or the brightest surface in the space.
A CEILING LEFT IN SHADOW CREATES A SECURE, INTIMATE AND RELAXING CAVE
ENVIRONMENT SUITABLE FOR LOUNGES AND CASUAL DINING. HIGH BRIGHTNESS ON THE
ceiling creates the bright, efficient, working atmosphere desirable for
offices, classrooms, and kitchens. Brightness on the vertical planes draws
attention to the walls and expands the space visually, and is appropriate
for art galleries, merchandising, and lobbies.
TYPES OF LIGHTING
1. FLOURESCENT LIGHTING
The fluorescent lamp is the workhorse light source for commercial and
institutional buildings. Fluorescent lamps use the principle of fluorescence, in
which minerals exposed to ultraviolet light are caused to glow. Electric energy
excites the gas inside the lamp, which generates ultraviolet light. The
ultraviolet light in turn excites the phosphors, which are a mixture of minerals
painted onto the inside of the bulb. Phosphors are designed to radiate
particular colors of white light, thus enabling the choice of both the color
temperature and CRI of a lamp. The color of the lamp is described by the name or
designation. Traditional lamp colors include cool white, warm white, and daylight.
However, modern lamps are identified by a color name that designates its color
temperature and CRI. For example, a lamp having a color temperature of 3500K and
a CRI between 80 and 90 is known as the color 835.
INDUCTION LAMPS
INDUCTION LAMPS ARE A TYPE OF FLOURESCENT lamp that uses radio
waves rather than an electric arc to cause the gas in the lamp to
give off ultraviolet energy. Induction lamps have most of the
characteristics of fluorescent lamps, including 70 to 80 lumens per
watt, choice of color, and high CRI. However, because induction lamps
have no electrodes, the lamps are rated to 60,000 to 100,000 hours. An
induction lamp used every day for 12 hours will last more than 20
years. Typical applications include street lighting and lighting in
hard- to-maintain locations.
INCANDESCENT LAMPS
directly replace incandescent lamps in incandescent lamp Sockets,
and
those with
plug-in
bases designed to fit into sockets in luminaires
Designed specifically for compact fluorescent lamps. Because
compact
fluorescent
lamps, like
all
fluorescent lamps, require ballast,
lamps with screw bases are larger and costlier than those for dedicated
Compact fluorescent luminaries. As a result, it is generally best to employ
dedicated compact fluorescent luminaries in new designs. Screw-based
compact fluorescent lamps should be used to convert incandescent type
luminaries.