07-08-2020

Illumination Required for Different Purposes

• There has been a steady movement towards higher intensities for artificial illumination during the last few

decades. The movement is likely to continue because the highest intensities in average installations are much
less than those of the diffused daylight. The human eye posses a tremendous power of accommodation and it
can work comfortably within an enormous range of illuminations.

• For example, at full noon, sun provides about 120,000 lm/m2, diffuse day-light near a window is of the order

of 600 lm/m2 (value varying widely) and full moon-light gives 0.1 to 0.3 lm/m2.

• For reading, usually 20 to 30 lm/m2 is generally considered sufficient, though daylight illumination is much

higher.

• Some persons can read without much strain even when illumination is as low as 3 lm/m2.
Space/Height Ratio

• It is given by the ratio : horizontal distance between two lamps/mounting height of lamps

• This ratio depends on the nature of the polar curve of a lamp when used along with its reflector.

• A reflector has tremendous influence on the shape of the polar curve of the lamp, hence the value
of space/height ratio, in fact, depends entirely on the type of reflector used. For obtaining uniform
illumination on the working plane, it is essential to choose a correct value for this ratio.

• In other words, it means that a reflector gives uniform illumination for a definite value of this ratio
only. The ratio may be found easily if the polar curve of the type of fixture used is known. For
reflectors normally used in indoor lighting, the value of this ratio lies between 1 and 2.
Design of Lighting Schemes and Lay-outs

• A well-designed lighting scheme is one which

(i) provides adequate illumination

(ii) avoids glare and hard shadows

(iii) provides sufficiently uniform distribution of light all over the working plane.

• Before explaining the method of determining the number, size and proper arrangement
of lamps in order to produce a given uniform illumination over a certain area, let us
first consider the following two factors which are of importance in such calculations.
Utilization Factor or Coefficient of
Utilization
Depreciation Factor (p)
A room 8 m × 12 m is lighted by 15 lamps to a fairly uniform illumination
of 100 lm/m2. Calculate the utilization coefficient of the room given that
the output of each lamp is1600 lumens.
The illumination in a drawing office 30 m × 10 m is to have a value of 250 lux and
is to be provided by a number of 300-W filament lamps. If the coefficient of
utilization is 0.4 and the depreciation factor 0.9, determine the number of lamps
required. The luminous efficiency of each lamp is 14 lm/W.