Electrical Lighting for Homes PDF

5. LIGHTING FOR HOMES 5.0 INTRODUCTION In the past, the approach to home lighting was to accept the traditional control pendant light-point, and then ask where the supplementary lighting, if any, should be located. Today, the reverse is more likely to be true: first we meet the local r...

5. LIGHTING FOR HOMES 5.0 INTRODUCTION In the past, the approach to home lighting was to accept the traditional control pendant light-point, and then ask where the supplementary lighting, if any, should be located. Today, the reverse is more likely to be true: first we meet the local requirements, and then ask whether anything more is desirable. Although it is accepted that home lighting will always remain a sector in which personal taste plays a dominant role, there are nevertheless certain points on which useful guidance can be given. 5.1 TRAFFIC ZONES The 'Traffic Zones' in and about the home are the various door-ways, the hall, landings, passages and staircases. These zones need special attention as far as the lighting is concerned, for it is here that many accidents attributable to poor vision conditions occur. It is a matter of providing ample, glare-free lighting, with the right shadow effects. In the entrance hall a welcoming atmosphere is also most important. In general, lighting of special features (eg. Pictures, tapestries, sculptures) is more effective than overall general lighting. 5.2 PRIMARY INDOOR AREAS 5.2.1 The living-room There is no other room in the home to compare with the living-room as regards the number and diversity of the activities taking place there. Talking, reading, and watching television are the main ones, but writing and, of course, eating can also take place in the same room. In fact the living-room is the very heart of the home, which is sufficient reason to light it well Because of its many different uses, the keynotes of the lighting must be flexibility combined with aesthetics. There should be light fittings for all occasions, and it should be possible to use them all, or only a few at a time, at any chosen brightness and intensity according to the needs of the moment. Orientation (Ambient) lighting A single ceiling mounted luminaire can provide the ambient lighting. But this should not be the only lighting in the room. This is because the eye is always attracted to the highest brightness, and if this is found in the centre of the room, the space will be perceived as being 'around this centre', and thus smaller. Also since all walls will be of very similar brightness, the volume of the room will be weakly rendered by the lighting. Reading Reading demands a relatively high illuminance, the correct amount depending upon the age of the reader. Generally speaking, 400 lux should be considered a minimum on the visual task (viz. book, magazine etc.). The traditional floor or standard lamp in all its simplicity is excellent. It provides an abundance of light upwards (ambient lighting) and permits comfortable, close-up reading. But energy-saving lamps can also be used: for example a suitable CFL lamp, or the new generation LED pin type lamps can give excellent results. Work like knitting and embroidery calls for more or less identical lighting to that outlined above, although if anything it should be slightly more intense. 32 Writing Writing, whether in the living-room or elsewhere, demands adequate local lighting. But here also, some form of ambient lighting should be present. The luminaire providing the local lighting should be relatively large: the shadows will then be smaller, with softer contours. The incandescent lamps employed for reading are good (no reflector lamps), but a PL 11W lamp is perfect with lots of soft light, from a source that is just the right size for the job. Conversation (sitting corner) Conversation is one of the main activities in the living room. The lighting should therefore facilitate eye-contact and model faces in a pleasant way. Good ambient lighting is usually sufficient to provide eye-contact. But the need for modelling means that the light should come from more than one direction. A couple of floor or table lamps or pendent luminaires with large, diffusing screens will provide the required lighting harmony in a sitting corner. With dimmmers, the general lighting level can easily be adjusted to create the required mood or atmosphere. Watching Television Watching television in the dark is very strenous on the eyes. A luminaire should therefore be placed on or close to the TV set, or else the surrounding wall area should be lighted by, say, a spot aimed at a painting. Out-door contact The happy few having a living room looking out into a garden can make use of this to increase the visual size of the room. At night, the garden windows acts as a black mirror, and the lighted interior is seen strongly reflected in it. Lighting the garden attracts the eye to faraway brightnesses and gives an impression of increased space in the room, even where there are net curtains across the window. 5.2.2 Dining room/Dining area Many (if not the vast majority) of homes do not have a separate dining room, but a dining-area that forms part of the living room. The approach to the lighting is the same in both cases. A feeling of intimacy can be emphasised by concentrating the light on the dining table instead of uniformly lighting the entire area or room. However, the faces of the diners should be included as well. A single luminaire suspended above the table is the usual solution, although with bigger tables, two or three small, matching luminaires might be used. Suitably screened Luminaires with a glass or fabric shade providing some direct lighting on the faces are to be preferred. However care must be taken to avoid glare. The provision of a dimmer is useful in enabling the lighting level to be adjusted to suit the occasion or task, or simply to leave the table corner lighted when not in use, as a part of the living-room 'landscape'. 5.2.3 Kitchen The kitchen is in fact a sort of work-shop and therefore needs virtually shadow-free general lighting. This should reach all surfaces, not only the horizontal work surfaces, but also the vertical ones to facilitate the task of finding things in the cupboards. 33  Additional local lighting may be needed to fill in the shadows cast by cup-boards and/ or by the occupant(s) of the kitchen standing at the work surfaces. The lighting, both general and local, must be such as to make it easy to discern even slight colour differences in the food. This means, of course, that all the lamps should have a high colour rendering index (Ra> 80). At the same time, the colour appearance created by the lighting should be in accord with that in the rest of the house. For the breakfast bar or corner, now customary in many larger kitchens, an attractive luminaire on a separate switch would be appropriate. 5.2.4 Bedroom Main Bedroom Besides general lighting, local lighting will be required to provide adequate illumination for the dressing-table and for reading in bed. The dressing-table can perhaps best be lighted using two vertically mounted low- brightness luminous panels, one on each side of the mirror. Good bed-head lighting is provided by twin wall-mounted luminaires having a medium-spread light distribution and individually adjustable and switched to suit individual requirements. Children's Bedrooms Children prefer to have more lighting. Dim light often preferred by older people for relaxation, might well prove frightening for young children. But long harsh shadows and glaring, unscreened lamps must be avoided. For the teenager's room, adjustable spotlights on a power track in combination with adjustable clip-on spots that can be placed anywhere in the room offer good lighting flexibility. Guest room Although a more straightforward approach may be adopted to the lighting, the guest-room is in principle similar to the main bedroom. Pleasant and well-thought-out lighting will be appreciated by the guests and help make themselves feel 'at home'. 5.2.5 Bathroom The main needs in the bathroom, as in the kitchen, are for good general lighting of the interior as a whole, and local lighting. The general lighting should be strong enough to penetrate the shower curtain or screen. It can be provided by a separate ceiling mounted luminaire (out of reach of anyone standing in the bath), but adequate general illumination is usually provided by the local lighting at the mirror above the wash-basin. This should direct light toward the person and not into the mirror. It should be as shadow-free as possible, which means using large-surface luminaires, preferably mounted vertically on both sides of the mirror. Safety regulations A wall mounted on/off switch must be positioned outside the room. Any switch in the bath-room must be of the pull-cord type. No socket outlets other than shaver-sockets designed for use in the bath-room 34  Light fittings must be enclosed, steam/condensation-proof and positioned (fixed) where they are unlikely to be splashed. 5.3 SECONDARY INDOOR AREAS The other spaces and rooms in a home - the loft, the cellar, the hobby room, the shed and the garage - call for functional lighting (providing good seeing conditions ), with longer burning hours and a higher efficiency than the decorative lighting found elsewhere in the home. Tubular fluorescent tubes preferably T5 lamps in robust industrial type luminaires are ideally suited for use in these kinds of areas. 5.3.1 Hobby room The hobby room, preferably decorated in light tones, should be equipped with general lighting giving good colour rendition ( i.e. Ra - 80) The luminaires can be mounted in the centre of the ceiling, but it is often better to have localised lighting (500-1000 lux) concentrated over the work-bench or table. For very difficult tasks (small details), an adjustable table lamp giving more light or light from several directions is a convenient solution. A power-track in the hobby room can be very handy, not only as a means of obtaining a flexible lighting system, but also to serve as a power-supply outlet to allow various electrical tools to be used wherever needed. 5.3.4 Garage A well-lighted approach to the garage will make it easier to avoid unexpected obstacles in the drive, such as bicycles and carelessly abandoned toys. The basic need inside the garage is for orientation lighting, but this should be positioned with the size of the car in mind so as to allow inspection of the engine when the car bonnet is raised as well as illuminating the open boot. If the garage is equipped with a work-bench, this should have its own lighting. -------------------------------------- 35