Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Methods for calculating

illumination
There are three method for Lighting
calculations:1)Watts per square meter method
2)Lumen or Light flux method
3)Point to Point OR Inverse Square law
method
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Watts per square meter

method
Principal based on Rule of thumb.
Very handy for rough calculation or
checking.
Illumination based on assumption
and consists in making an allowance
of watts per square meter of area.
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE
Electrical)

The problem of the lighting

designer at the functional
level
To determine how many lights and
Where to place them to get the correct level of
illumination for a given activity.

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Calculations can be divided

into two types
Accent or task lighting.
To determine the illumination at a small
specific location in the room from a point light
source.
Simply get polar plot for luminaire and work
out the illumination on surface for a given
lamp.
Called the point illumination method.
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

The lumen method

To estimate the illumination pattern from a set of
diffuse lighting sources over a broad area in a room.
This method gives rough and reasonable estimates
of the lamps / luminaires needed.
Is used in areas where a uniform light intensity is
required for the work area.
Used for rectangular rooms with gridded luminaire
pattern.
Also called as Light Flux Method
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

The lumen method

Illumination level required at the work surface is obtained
rec
by,
E=
A
E = illumination level required at the work surface
A = total area of the plane where the work is done.
rec = flux of light received on the working surface.
It is to determine how much flux needs to be installed, i.e.
inst, to get the required amount of received flux rec.
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

The lumen method

First determine how much flux is to be received.

Multiply the illumination required by the surface area.
rec = E A
The received flux is related to the installed flux by a
formula

rec = MF UF inst

where
MF = Maintenance factor (Light Loss Factor LLF)
UF = Utilization factor
= Total Lumen
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Maintenance Factor
Gives an estimate of how lighting conditions
will deteriorate through use.
Some factors are dust and dirt inside luminaire
surfaces.
Aging of light bulbs emitting less light
Cleaning of room surfaces, e.g. ceiling
Without detailed knowledge of a maintenance
plan, MF is assumed to be = 0.80.
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Depreciation factor
Light emitted by source reduces due to dust or dust
decomposition on light.
So, quantity of light reflected from ceiling also get
reduced.
This reduction of light can be minimized by cleaning
the light fittings or white washing.
But absolute cleanliness is not possible hence we
need to consider depreciation factor.
D. F. = 1/ M. F.
Illumination under ideally clean condition
D.F. =
Illumination under normal working condition
Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Utilization Factor ()
Is the ratio of effective luminous flux to the
total luminous flux of light sources.
Always less than one
Fn
Effective luminous flux
U.F.= =
F Total luminous flux of all the sources

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Effective Luminous Flux

(Fn)
The luminous flux incident on the working
area.
Rest luminous flux is used for lighting the
walls and ceilings and is partly absorbed by
the fittings.

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

U. F. Depend on the following

The luminaire properties.
The light output ratio (LOR).
How much of the light emitted by the lamps actually
leaves the luminaire?
The reflection factors of ceiling and walls.
Reflectance are available from manufacturers of
paints and furniture finishing.
Colour

Reflectance

White, Off-white, light shades of gray,

brown, blue

75-90%

Medium green, yellow, brown or gray

30-60%

Dark gray, medium blue

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)
Dark blue, green, wood
paneling

10-20%
5-10%

U. F. Depend on the
following

Distribution of light sources in the room

It is usual to make the reflectance of the ceiling
highest, walls slightly lower and the floor darker.
Typically recommends in offices
C eiling
Wall

Light
70-90%
50-70%

Floor

20-50%

Do not choose very dark wood, or bright surfaces.

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

U. F. Depend on the
following
The geometric shape of the room i.e. length,
breadth and height of a room will affect the
UF.
A factor called the room index (RI) is defined
from the horizontal vertical areas of the room.

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

Room index
The horizontal areas are
Area H = 2 Length Width

= 2 L W
The vertical areas are
Area L = 2

=2

Length Width Height Lum

L W Hm

Hm = mounting height = Vertical distance from the

work place to the luminaire.
The Room index is
Area H
LW
RI =
=
VijayArea
Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)
(L+W) H m
V

For uniform illumination

As a rule of thumb, to achieve uniform
lighting
spacing between the luminaries should be less
than 1.5 times the mounting height.
Lumnaire Spacing < 1.5 Hm

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)

No. of lamps
required
rec = MF UF
inst
rec

EA
inst MF UF MF UF

inst
So, No. of lamps required =
Lumen o/p
So, No. of lamps required =

EA
Lumen o/p MF UF

Vijay Balu Raskar (BE Electrical)