Types and features of interior lighting

The value of indoor lighting in a residential area is very high. It fills the house with coziness, creates conditions for visual comfort, helps to place accents in the interior and realize design ideas. The guarantee of high-quality performance of these functions is the correctly chosen lighting devices and the type of lighting.

Indoor lighting is considered to be artificial lighting, which contributes to the full functioning and functioning of all living in the house. The second equally important function is the aesthetic load of both the lighting device itself and the effect it creates. Features of lighting depend on its type.

It is customary to distinguish three main ones: functional, decorative, architectural.

Functional, or work lighting, is the most common, since not a single house can do without artificial light sources in the presence of electricity. This provides the conditions dictated by the rules of lighting, and just need any person every day.

Minimum working lighting is provided by ceiling lights, table lamps and local light sources.

In total, there are 4 types of lamps:

• Incandescent lamps. This is the usual version of the Ilyich light bulb, which is gradually becoming obsolete due to its short lifetime, brittleness and high energy consumption. But they still lead the list of the cheapest lighting products.
• Halogen or halogen. In terms of quality of lighting, life expectancy and cost are one line higher than incandescent bulbs. To improve their performance helps small modifications in the device of the lamp, namely the presence of a flask with a gas that protects the filament from fast burnout.The same detail makes the light brighter.

• Fluorescent or energy saving. These products are somewhat more complicated, and the mechanism of work is based on the interaction of electrical discharges and mercury vapor. Fluorescent lamps cannot be called safe due to mercury content, however, when used carefully, they do not cause harm, and their energy efficiency is 5 times higher than that of halogen lamps, and 5 times lower with energy consumption. This provides high-quality lighting and a tenfold savings.
• LED or LED lamps. Today they are unsurpassed light sources. LEDs provide correct, uniform lighting in the house, without flickering and heating. They are distinguished by a rich temperature spectrum and degree of brightness, environmental safety, durability, the lowest level of energy consumption, and durability.

When choosing fixtures for the apartment decor, attention is focused on their shape, color, size, and "decorating" properties for the interior. It can be beautiful sconces, floor lamps under luxurious lampshades, minimally deaf ceiling lamps, built-in lights, lamps on bedside tables and dressing tables, and night lamps.

Architectural lighting is the most difficult. It requires some special knowledge and a well-thought-out layout of light sources around the perimeter of an apartment or house. Competently used lighting opens up wide opportunities for a “corrective” design, which is designed to smooth out the flaws in the layout (too narrow rooms, too high or low ceilings, non-standard room shape and others).

Popular transformation techniques:

• “Raise” the low ceiling with the help of upward beams.
• "Expand" penny bedroom, using a one-sided or L-shaped arrangement of several lamps in a row.
• "Extend" the room, placing a long row of small lamps in the center of the ceiling.
• "Push" the borders of the room with reflective and glossy surfaces that diffuse light.
• Zone a room using spot lights above or below functional areas.

Interior lighting can be divided into types according to several criteria:

In accordance with it emit natural (sunlight) and artificial lighting (all types of lamps).

• General lighting (interior). Its purpose is to create conditions for comfortable living and functioning. As a rule, it is all kinds of chandeliers, linear and ceiling lamps, light sources with an extensive spectrum of action.
• Local or local. It is necessary to illuminate functional areas with a large area (stairs, pantry, corridor). Usually affects only them, without touching the adjacent areas (sconces, wall lamps, small ceiling lamps).
• Working High-quality lighting above the functional area of ​​a specific purpose (student desk, computer desk, table for cutting and sewing, dressing table, green lighting on the windowsill, kitchen area, and others). Built-in and stand-alone lamps, lamps, floor lamps.

• Standby (emergency). Necessary when the main sources of light suddenly stop working.
• Backlight: niches, steps on the stairs, ceilings, floors, furniture, beautiful framing of art objects and expositions, aquariums, architectural structures (spotlights, LED strips).
• Nightly. This group includes night lights, lamps, lights for the floor, stairs and walls, with or without motion sensors, neon decoration of various objects, flexible LED designs.

• Mortise or embedded. This is a type of luminaire (spot), the body of which is fully embedded in the floor, ceiling, wall or false-surface (plastic or drywall). The spots are turning and static. Swivel give the ability to direct the light in the right direction;
• Overhead. In appearance, they resemble partially built-in lights, although in reality they are mounted on flat surfaces. They need a fashionable design decoration, which implies light sources as an element of decor, and those surfaces where the installation of a tension or false-surface is not available;
• Suspended and suspended lamps are outside and are accessories in the interior. Both the casing and the power cable belong to their visible part, therefore they are often decorated.
• Independent light sources. These are lamps, floor lamps and other types of fixtures that do not need installation at all, but can easily move from place to place.

Ceiling (chandeliers and spots), wall (sconces, lamps, ribbons, built-in lights), floor (built-in lights and stand-alone floor lamps, lamps, floor chandeliers), corner, side.

• Directional. This type of lighting implies a directional flow of light to illuminate any surface or area in the room. This gives objects clarity and volume, and the room becomes noticeably more light. Sources of directional lighting - chandeliers and lamps with shades;
• Scattered. This lighting "loses" its sharpness due to the fact that it passes through an obstacle in the form of a ceiling or a lampshade. The ceiling must be made of glass or a thin light material, this has the effect of scattering 360 degrees. Ideal for general lighting.

• Reflected. The main role here is played not by direct rays of light, but by their multiple reflections emanating from surfaces, into which the rays of light are directed. This effect can be achieved with the help of small lamps and reflective or glossy surfaces. Reception is relevant if necessary, "expand" the room visually;

• Combined. Original design lighting is created using a combination of its different types. It is necessary for the zoning of the room and placing accents.

Manual or mechanical (by pressing the switch), remote, automatic, wireless.

For many years it was possible to turn on and off the light in the room in only one way - using a wall switch. After that, to get to another room or bed in the bedroom had to touch or illuminating his way screen of a mobile phone.

Modern technology has gone a long way. Now you will not surprise anyone with the modifications of the wall switch, and alternative ways of controlling the lighting are gaining more and more popularity.

So, the lighting control is divided into local (manual, mechanical) and remote.

Local or manual control is also divided into several types:

• With one-button switch. This is a familiar toggle switch, the change of position of which causes the light to turn on (toggle up) and off (down). This switch can be regulated by one or several of the associated light bulbs.
• With two or three key switch. The principle of operation of this switch is the same as that of the single-button toggle switch, but different keys at the same time regulate different light bulbs or lamps. This scheme is convenient for a large chandelier in the living room,which has adjustable brightness and backlight mode, or for long corridors with two or three independent lights.

• With walk-through switches. Such toggle switches are somewhat more complicated, but the need for them does not always arise. For example, they may be needed in a house where there is a second floor or a mezzanine so that you can turn on the light below in front of the stairs and turn it off at the top. Top and bottom switches depend on each other, so there is no strictly fixed position of the keys. If from the first the light is turned up, then it is turned off from the second, the next time the light is switched on at the first one down.
• With crossover switches. They are even more complex than the walk-throughs, but they provide an opportunity to combine three or more switches into one system to control the light from different places in the house. The same capabilities have a more reliable control system - a bistable electric relay.
• With motion sensors. Although they are not regulated by simply pressing a switch on the wall, they are local, since they always work in the same zone that needs to be lit.Their flawless operation provides a range of 5 to 20 meters, a viewing angle of up to 360 degrees, full automation and the ability to connect to different types of light bulbs.

Motion sensors (dimmers) are:

• Infrared. The principle of their work is that the light is turned on due to the reaction of small lenses inside the sensor that capture infrared radiation, the source of which is a person;
• Microwave Dimmers of this type recognize movement with the help of sensitive elements of the device;
• Sonic. Acoustic sensors are in some respects more convenient than infrared and microwave, since during the daytime they can give no signal for operation. The conditional signal, as a rule, can be selected at the settings: the clap of the palms, the sound of steps, the sound of the door closing. On the other hand, the infrared sensor will work in any case, and the acoustic one will not activate if hands are busy.
• Combined. Such sensors are the best option because they can be configured in any convenient way.

Remote control of internal lighting can be organized in different ways:

• Management is carried out through a switchboard and switching devices. Here are popular systems with radio switches. The radio switch is a touch controller that allows switching the lighting networks into the “smart home” system. You can install it anywhere: at the entrance to the house, in the kitchen, next to the bed in the bedroom, and even on the armrest of the chair. The radio switch is easily combined with any other types of control;
• Lighting is regulated by wireless devices. These are small smart assistants who make it possible to turn on the light in the morning, not getting out from under the blanket, turn it off, not interrupting watching a movie on a comfortable sofa, not going back to the room with shoes if you forgot to turn off the light in it, but do it from the phone, remote, smartphone.

Remote control devices include:

• The remotes. Switching the light with it and adjust the brightness is no more difficult than clicking the channels on the TV without a cable;
• Pocket Gadgets (smartphones, phones, tablets) on the Android platform. For this operating system, a free Arduino application has been developed that allows you to control lighting and household appliances in the house;
• Computer. He is able to manage some switches in the house via wifi, but programs or applications are not enough for this. Power blocks and a USB adapter are needed, but it will be possible to control the light not only from the next room, but also from another city.

The choice of devices for indoor lighting in the house is a complex technical and creative task. To make it easier, design experts recommend relying on the following criteria:

The layout is rarely part of the interior by itself, only in cases where it has been specifically modified to conform to the canons of a particular style. Indirectly, its features affect the choice of colors and accessories for room decoration. And lighting as well. Often it helps to solve complex design problems in apartments with a non-standard layout.

In this case, recessed fixtures are considered a good solution. With their help, directed or diffused illumination is created, which with the help of the play of light and shadows makes it possible to visually correct the flaws in the layout. Actual for use in rooms,which should be as close as possible to the cherished square shape, for a room with a stretch ceiling, small-sized Khrushchev, rooms with low ceilings.

For rooms with high ceilings chandeliers of complex structures with original shades are shown.

They can be placed lamps with metal shades, "bare" light bulbs, "Edison lamps" and similar in style coarse simple lamps.

Popular in modern design using attic. This is a room with sloping walls and with a sloping ceiling, in which it is difficult to install any lighting fixtures, except spotlights and linear fixtures. But they make it possible to save space and create a cozy "attic" atmosphere. A topical idea for a cool attic floor is the breeding of a home botanical garden. In this case, large pendant UV lamps are needed for flowers and plants.

Design techniques with light are simply necessary to optimize the space in the studio and one-room apartment. At the same time they will help to visually enlarge the room and clearly divide it into functional zones.

The choice of lighting affects the purpose of the room.

• Living room. In this room, it is important and high-quality general lighting, and several local sources of light. Chandelier for the ceiling light can be an interior decoration in the historical style, and if it is minimalism, then it is better to give preference to the group of pivotal spots. Almost any interior can be made cozy and intimate for friendly or romantic evenings, using lamps and floor lamps. Only in one case it will be romantic ruffles and light fabrics, and in the other laconic geometric forms and monochrome colors.

• Bedroom. Both top and local light are also needed here. It should be warm, pleasing to the eye spectrum, but not too dim. Lamps with remote control are ideal for the bedroom, because you do not want to get out of the dress after reading a book,to press the switch!
• Kitchen. General lighting - of course, but local is necessary in all functional areas. There are no longer need decorative lamps, more ergonomic will be all sorts of lights. In the cooking zone, this could be a backlight built into the set, an LED strip on a wall apron. And, for example, overhead bar jay will look great overhead or mortise fixtures of interesting shape.

• Children's The two main criteria for lighting in a child’s room are compliance with sanitary standards and ease of management. LEDs of a natural spectrum on local control of a toggle switch or with a simple remote control that allows changing the daylight of a chandelier for a night light are best suited. Desk lamp on the desktop - a prerequisite.
• Bathroom. In the bathroom is not a place bulky lighting fixtures. All of them should be small, well-lit, resistant to humidity and temperature extremes. Conventional lamps require a fully enclosed transparent or matte cover that protects the fragile housing from moisture.

• Corridor. Requirements for lighting in the corridors, hallways and halls depend on the size of the room.For a large area, overhead light and illumination of individual zones are needed, for a small one of these options is enough.
• Wardrobe. Good lighting is a prerequisite for a dressing room. It is important that it be as close as possible to the natural spectrum, that the color of the clothes is not distorted, and that the reflection in the mirror is reliable. Remote control is only a plus.
• Storerooms. There should be bright, easily adjustable light in the storage areas. It is important to protect the bulb with a plafond in order not to accidentally break it, pulling out large, tall or uncomfortable objects from a loaded pantry.

Characteristic features of different styles make demands on both the brightness of the light, the color temperature, and the appearance of the lighting fixtures.

So, in modern style Popular unusual execution of chandeliers and lamps in plastic, steel, wooden, glass, fabric format.It is relevant to new design ideas, sometimes the most unexpected and insane. The lighting itself is preferably natural, be it minimalism, industrial, or Provence.

In classic style there are slightly different rules. It is more focused on good quality, high cost, status. Chandeliers and lamps here play more the role of jewelry than functional things.

Designers' recommendations are not immutable rules. Lighting can be chosen based on your own taste, ideas about harmony and a sense of comfort. But the requirements of physicians for the quality of lighting should not be neglected.

To conduct interior lighting in an apartment or house is a responsible event.

Connecting wires yourself can damage your health, so the best solution is to contact a specialist. But their services are not cheap, and the larger the area, the higher the price.In order to save, you can spend part of the preparatory work yourself.

Lighting is carried out in several stages.

In the course of work, the required lighting power, the number of light bulbs, and the application of the obtained data on the floor plan-scheme is determined.

The calculated power is calculated by the formula: multiply the area of ​​the room by 16 W (constant value of the specific power of the lighting fixture in the living room). In the formula, there is also an indicator that stands for “demand factor”.

The minimum "room" number of lamps also has its own formula for calculating: the area of ​​the room divided by the power of one light bulb and multiply the resulting number by 16 watts.

An experienced electrician at the same stage calculates the cross-section of the lead wire or cable.

After the calculations are made, you need to make a clear plan for the location of lamps, switches and wiring. The scheme is applied to the floor plan with observance of accuracy up to a centimeter on a reduced scale.The layout should be detailed to mark even small sources of light on it.

It includes:

• All types of lighting fixtures, except independent.
• The route of the electrical cables on the walls.
• Place where the junction box will be installed.
• The location of the switches. When choosing pass-through switches, it is important to consider the features of the wiring so that the light can be turned on and off from both. A common mistake of newbies is that they incorrectly fail the contacts, as a result it turns out that the light can be turned off only by the toggle switch with which it was turned on.

When the project is completed, it's time to buy supplies and tools. This stage includes the selection of light bulbs by type, size, shape, brightness and color temperature, and matching design lamps and chandeliers.

The third stage is the installation itself.Doing it yourself without special training is dangerous to life and health.

It is recommended to contact the experts, while respecting two important rules:

• Saving on material means saving on security. All consumables must be of high quality and in sufficient quantity.
• For work on the design and wiring are not suitable workers with no experience, because it is one of the most difficult types of installation in repair. Also, do not trust the security of your home to novice workers and those who are guided by the standards of the past century. The electrics in the house should be modern and carried out without flaws.

Brighter does not mean better. This is the golden rule when choosing lighting in the house. It is not enough to choose the brightest light bulbs to solve the problem of high-quality lighting. However, too dim lighting also adversely affects the body. It causes drowsiness, impairs vision and mental state.

The building code, which is based on the recommendations of doctors, indicates the strength of lighting in suites.

For each zone in the room has developed its optimal performance:

• Attic and basements, as well as non-residential attic do not need a bright light. Their rate is 20 Lk;
• Adjacent bathroom, separate toilet and bathroom or sauna need 50 Lx. At the same time for the bathroom is the minimum value, and for cosmetic procedures (shaving, applying masks and makeup) requires twice as much - 100 Lx;
• Also 50 Lux are the norm for corridors, hallways and halls;
• Wardrobe or lighting inside a spacious wardrobe - 75 Lk;
• In the pool or bath normal lighting - 100 lux;

• Bedroom - 150 lk, provided that there are less bright light sources in the form of a night lamp or a lamp;
• Kitchen and bar counter area - 150 Lk;
• Children's room - not more than 250 and not less than 200 Lk;
• The office, where there is a computer - 300 Lk. It is recommended to increase the permeability of natural lighting;
• The office in which the drawing work, cutting, sewing, designing are carried out - up to 500 Lx.

In order not to get confused in different indicators (Lux, Watt, Lumen), characterizing the luminous flux, you can use the formula. It helps to translate some values ​​into other, more convenient and familiar ones.

So, 1 Lux is 1 Lumen per 1 square meter of a room. To calculate the illumination rate of each room, it is necessary to multiply the figure from the SNiP table by the area of ​​this room, and then divide the resulting amount by the number indicated in the column “luminous flux” on the package with a lamp. The resulting number indicates the required number of light bulbs per room.

There is another approach. The derivative of the norm for SNiP per room area can be divided by the number of light bulbs that you want to install in the lamp or in the chandelier. The resulting number should be indicated on the packaging of the light bulb. Value can be rounded. For example, there are no lamps with a luminous flux of 245 or 255 Lm, so you can choose the closest to them value of 250 Lm.

Sometimes it is not enough to carefully plan the interior lighting scheme in the house.Even well placed in the interior light elements can not cope with their task. As a rule, this happens in the autumn-winter deficiency of the sun, or if the apartment is unsuccessful, when the windows overlook the neighboring house and literally run into its wall.

There are several techniques for improving the lighting in the apartment:

• Give more access to natural light. It is not necessary to resort to radical methods such as arranging additional window openings or increasing the existing ones, you can beat the design of the window and the internal filling of the room. The first step is to remove all thick and heavy curtains from windows, replacing them with vertical blinds with tulle, light translucent curtains or curtains of the type of roller shutters (horizontal blinds, Roman curtains, Austrian, corrugated, English).
• The second technique is the use of transparent and translucent partitions instead of blank walls. They can be made of thick frosted glass, then nothing will be visible through them, and sound insulation will remain at the level, but the material will still pass a lot of light, which will add to the room airiness and lightness.

• Use high-quality lamps with a pleasant light spectrum for the eyes. The best option always seems to be imitation of natural light, but natural light is white, and the question of what color is the sun is all answered - yellow. The eyes are more accustomed to warm, slightly yellowish shades. In dark, dim apartments, especially in the autumn-winter period, light with light yellowness is relevant due to the fact that it creates a warm, cozy atmosphere and resembles sunlight.
• Choose for lighting modern types of lamps, "smart" mechanisms and dimmers. With their help, it is much easier to adjust the required lighting depending on the time of day and the time of year.
• Use in interior design materials with glossy and reflective surfaces that diffuse light (PVC, siding, glass, smooth wallpaper, ceramic tile, mirrors, chrome) and light, warm colors (white, beige, peach, milky, pastel shades, natural natural palette ).
• To choose the ceiling lamps and lampshades of the "correct" form, translucent, thin-walled, with reflectors inside.

Interesting solutions for the arrangement of lighting in the apartment can be peeped in ready-made design projects:

• Use non-trivial light sources. These are unusual in shape and material chandeliers, lampshades, ceiling lamps, and LED strip, giving great opportunities for decoration, and various linear lamps, day light and spotlights;

• Redefine the place to install lighting devices. Maybe in the bathroom all the time it was not enough for a full-fledged chandelier or long ago it was worth highlighting the podium for the bed in the bedroom.

• Not limited to natural light. In some rooms, lamps of yellow, red, green or blue will be appropriate;

• Use multi-level (multi-layered) lighting: ceiling lights, lamps and spotlights;

• Direct the backlight to the accents. At the same time, the lighting should clearly fall on a picture, a vase, or another object, “snatching” it from the gloom. It turns out a beautiful "theatrical" effect.

You will learn more about the types and features of interior lighting in the following video.