Types Of Natural Lighting. Some Definitions Related To Lamps And Luminaires. Types Of Lamps. Types Of Luminaires Lighting system is one of the systems which the electrical design engineer is responsible to design. In order to be able to design a complete lighting system, we should first know a theoretical background which we will discuss in this session. Generally, the existence of shadows is important in some applications like museums as the shadows can highlight the 3D objects. On the other hand, the shadows are not accepted in some applications like studios, offices, hospitals and mirror lighting as we don’t need to hide any details of the objects. Uniformity is the factor which express the difference in the intensity of lighting through the illuminated surface. The value of uniformity is important and should be high in some applications such as offices and hospitals as it determines the comfort of the eye when working in the place. It is a very high difference in illumination level which make the eye discomfort or unable to see. It can be classified according to its source to “ direct glare “ and “ reflected glare “. Direct glare occurs due to the selection of unsuitable luminaire fitting. The reflected glare occurs due to reflection of light from the objects to the eye. It is a ratio from 0 to 100 that express the amount of glare in a specific place. Factors affecting UGR: - colors of walls. – colors of ceiling. - Lighting fixture luminance. – direction of lighting. UGR has specified values which shouldn’t be exceeded in each application. (see the following table).
Some softwares like DIALux can calculate the values of
UGR. It is the case of clear weather where there is no clouds at all. In this case the light falls directly from the sun to the objects. The important properties of this type of lighting are: High amount of shadows which result in 3D modelling of objects. Glare because of appearance of the light source (the sun). Low uniformity due to the large difference in lighting levels. It is the case of cloudy weather at which all the sunlight passes through the clouds before falling to earth. The important properties of indirect lighting are: No shadows. No glare as no one can see the source of light directly. High level of uniformity due to the constant level of lighting. No modeling of 3D objects , it appear as 2D objects. It is the average case between the direct and indirect lighting. It occurs when there are some clouds in the sky. The important properties of direct/ indirect lighting are: Light Shadows. Medium glare due to the partial appearance of the light source “ the sun “. Medium level of uniformity. Medium modeling of 3D object with showing the details of the shadowed side of the object. It is a parameter which takes a value from 1 to 100. It describes the ability of the (lamp or luminaire) to show the true colors of the objects. A light source with low CRI will tend to show the colors unnaturally. (See the following figure). It is recommended to use luminaires with CRI more than 80. It is a value ( in kelvin ) which indicates the color degree of the light and it is one of the characteristics of the (lamp or luminaire). Generally the low color temperatures describe the light which is close to the yellow color. The high color temperatures describe the light which is close to the blue color. For some fluorescent lamps, there is a number written beside the lamp wattage (840). 8 means that the CRI of this lamp 8*10= 80 40 means that the color temperature 40*100= 4000 It indicates the amount of the light emitted from the (lamp or luminaire) to all directions. Its measuring unit is Lumen (lm).
It is the power consumption of the lamp or luminaire.
Generally, it is preferred to select luminaires with low input power and high luminous flux.
It equals the resulting flux (lumen) divided by the input power of
the light source (watt). It is preferred to select a lamp or a luminaire with a high efficacy as It means high lighting output with low power consumption. It is the angle between the two beams representing the half luminous intensity of the luminaire. Its value is important for the lighting designer to select a luminaire with a beam angle which is suitable for the application. The ranges of beam angles are: less than 10 degrees : narrow spot 10-20 degrees : spot 21-30 degrees: flood 31-40 degrees: wide flood Bigger than 40 degrees: very wide flood. It is a drawing which can be found at the luminaires datasheets which express the shape of the lighting distribution of the luminaire. It is an important parameter of a luminaire which express the ability of the luminaire to resist the surrounding conditions like dust and water. The lighting designer should take the value of IP into consideration during selecting the lighting luminaire. Generally, the IP value is selected to be 20 for indoor applications and to be 44 in wet areas (bathrooms, kitchens, mechanical rooms)and roofs. IP 65 for street lighting. Tungesten Lamps Gas Discharge Lamps LED Lamps
Incadescent Fluorescent
Halogen Compact Fluerescent
Metal Halide
High Pressure Sodium ( HPS )
Low Pressure Sodium ( SON )
High Pressure Mercury
Luminaires Can Be Classified According To: Type Of Lamps. Type Of Lighting. Type Of Installation. The shape, dimensions and the components of the luminaire is determined according to the type and the number of lamps inside it. General Accent Decorative Lighting Lighting Lighting General Lighting
Direct Lighting Indirect Lighting Direct/Indirect Lighting