PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF

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

FACTS ABOUT LIGHT

LIGHT is the medium that makes visual perception possible.
Insufficient light or darkness gives rise to a sense of insecurity. We lack
information, we lose vital bearings.
Artificial lighting during the hours of darkness makes us feel safe.
So light not only enables us to see; it also affects our mood and sense of
wellbeing.
Lighting level and light color, modeling and switches from light to dark impact
on momentary sensations and determine the rhythm of our lives.
In sunlight, for instance, illuminance is about 100,000 lux. In the shade of a tree
it is around 10,000 lux, while on a moonlit night it is 0.2 lux, and even less by
starlight.
People nowadays spend most of the day indoor, in illuminances between 50 and
500 lux. Light sets the rhythm of our biological clock but it needs to be
relatively intense to have an effect on the circadian system (1,000 lux), so for
most of the time we live in chronobiological darkness.

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.

Almost simultaneously, experiments started on electric arc lamps

fuelling research which acquired practical significance in 1866 when
Werner Siemens succeeded in generating electricity economically with
the help of the dynamo. But the real dawn of the age of electric
light came in 1879, with Thomas A. Edisons reinvention and
technological application of the incandescent lamp invented 25 years
earlier by the German clock-maker Johann Heinrich Goebel. With each
new light source from campfire and kindling to candle and electric
light bulb luminaires were developed to house and harness
the newlamps. In recent decades, lamp and luminaire development
has been particularly dynamic, drawing on the latest technologies,
new optical systems and new materials while at the same time
maximizing economic efficiency and minimizing environmental impact.

LIGHTING PRINCIPLES
AND TERMS

As we know that light is define as:

Light is the medium that makes visual perception possible.
The main source of light is the sun ,it provides us with deferent
tones of light during the day such as:
MORNING WARM TONES AND LOW LIGHT INTENSITY

 MIDDAY BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT, HIGH INTENSITY.

 LATE EVENING WARM TONES AND LOW LIGHT INTENSITY.

LIGHTING AND HUMAN

NEEDS
we experience our environment first and foremost through our eyes.
80 percent of the sensory impressions we receive are visual. Too much or
too little light, glare or distorted colors impact on what we perceive,
distract our attention and cause visual fatigue.
In all areas of life and throughout the working world, good and
appropriate lighting is a prime requirement for enabling us to see
clearly, enjoy a sense of wellbeing, perform concentrated fatigue-free
work and perceive and interpret important information and our
surroundings correctly. This calls for good, professional lighting design.

LIGHTING KEY FACTORS

Illuminance: is the brightness of an object, or the strength of the light
reflected from it. The greater the luminance, the stronger
the visual stimulation, and the easier the object is to see.2
In daylight, the illuminance of an illuminated surface is between 10,000
lux (overcast sky) and 100,000 lux (bright sunlight). Indoors, we need to
make do with much less light. For writing and reading, it is generally
enough if artificial lighting provides 500 lux illuminance; for
drawing or other visually demanding tasks, illuminance should be at
least 750 lux.
The values set out in the standard, however, are minimum requirements.
Most people find a higher level of illuminance more agreeable and more
motivating. In winter especially, when the levels of daylight entering a
room are lower, more light is needed to avoid fatigue and loss of
concentration.

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.

Light and color

The way we perceive colors under artificial light depends
on the color rendering properties of the lamps. Lamps with good
color rendering properties produce natural colors ,lamps with poor
color rendering properties cause color distortion.
DIRECT/INDIRECT LIGHTING
LUMINAIRES WITH DIRECT AND INDIRECT LIGHTING COMPONENTS PERMIT
FREE ARRANGEMENTS OF DESKS, REDUCE THE RISK OF REFLECTED GLARE AND
CREATE A MORE AGREEABLE LIGHTING ATMOSPHERE.

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.

Accent lighting: Lighting used to emphasize or draw attention to a

special object or building.
Task lighting: Lighting designed for a specific purpose or task.
Ultraviolet "light": The energy output by a source which is of
shorter wavelengths than the eye can see. Some photographic films
are sensitive to ultraviolet energy, as are many electronic detectors.
"Black 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.

Such facilities often also use variations of light intensity on the

walls to accentuate a desired feature. Variations of light intensity
form areas of light and shadow, which are desirable if you are trying
to create a mood environment, rather than an evenly illuminated
workplace. The interplay of light and shadow add variety to a space,
and provide visual relief to an otherwise monotonous environment.
Scallops on a wall from down lights, shadows on the ceiling from up
lights, or highlights from accent lighting create areas of visual
interest, and can draw attention to a desired area or object. The
designer must be careful not to overdo it, though, because too many
lighting effects in one space have roughly the same visual effect
that too many sidebars, colors, and font styles do to a magazine page:
the original design intent is obscured or obliterated.

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.

Standard Straight and U-bent Lamps

Most common fluorescent lamps are straight tubes. The longest
standard fluorescent lamps are 8' long and the shortest are 4". The
most common length is 4', and the most common diameters are 58" (T5), 1" (T-8), and 1 12" (T-12). U-bent lamps are straight lamps that are
manufactured in a U shape but otherwise perform about the same as
straight lamps.
Standard straight and U-bent lamps are preferred for general
illumination because of their cost effectiveness and energy efficiency.
In current designs, the T-8 is the most commonly used generalpurpose lamp, and the T-5 and T-5 HIGH OUTPUT LAMPS ARE BECOMING
INCREASING POPULAR FOR A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC LIGHTING SYSTEMS

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.