Electrical Contractors
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Interior Lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some aesthetic or practical effect. Lighting includes use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from daylight. Daylighting (through windows, skylights, etc.) is often used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings given its high quality and low cost. Artificial lighting represents a major component of energy consumption, accounting for a significant part of all energy consumed worldwide. Artificial lighting is most commonly provided today by electric lights, but gas lighting, candles, or oil lamps were used in the past, and still are used in certain situations. Proper lighting can enhance task performance or aesthetics, while there can be energy wastage and adverse health effects of poorly designed lighting. Indoor lighting is a form of fixture or furnishing, and a key part of interior design.
Types
Lighting is classified by intended use as general, localized, or task lighting, depending largely on the distribution of the light produced by the fixture.
Task lighting is mainly functional and is usually the most concentrated, for purposes such as reading or inspection of materials. For example, reading poor-quality reproductions may require task lighting levels up to 1500 lux (150 footcandles), and some inspection tasks or surgical procedures require even higher levels.
Accent lighting is mainly decorative, intended to highlight pictures, plants, or other elements of interior design or landscaping.
General lighting (sometimes referred to as ambient light) fills in between the two and is intended for general illumination of an area. Indoors, this would be a basic lamp on a table or floor, or a fixture on the ceiling. Outdoors, general lighting for a parking lot may be as low as 10-20 lux (1-2 footcandles) since pedestrians and motorists already used to the dark will need little light for crossing the area.
Interior lighting design is very important to the industrial world. There are three primary arenas in which interior industrial lighting is applicable: factories, warehouses, and offices. All three environments require systems to be planned prior to the purchase of any equipment.
Sometimes this is for energy savings only, but in other areas, interior lighting design is a key component to worker efficiency and is essential to maintaining a safe work environment.
Office lighting is just as important in the industrial marketplace as it is in the service-oriented businesses in the general corporate world at large. Virtually every facility, no matter how devoted to manufacturing or distribution it may be, has office space of some type. Management and administration requires this separate space to oversee production and to make mission critical decisions about the company.
Interior lighting design will contribute quality assurance and improve safety in factories where products are manufactured. Every factory needs a lighting plan before it goes out and buys lighting equipment.
It is quite possible that you will discover that newer, more energy efficient lights engineered with longer lamp life could save money on both power and maintenance cycles.
Types
Lighting is classified by intended use as general, localized, or task lighting, depending largely on the distribution of the light produced by the fixture.
Task lighting is mainly functional and is usually the most concentrated, for purposes such as reading or inspection of materials. For example, reading poor-quality reproductions may require task lighting levels up to 1500 lux (150 footcandles), and some inspection tasks or surgical procedures require even higher levels.
Accent lighting is mainly decorative, intended to highlight pictures, plants, or other elements of interior design or landscaping.
General lighting (sometimes referred to as ambient light) fills in between the two and is intended for general illumination of an area. Indoors, this would be a basic lamp on a table or floor, or a fixture on the ceiling. Outdoors, general lighting for a parking lot may be as low as 10-20 lux (1-2 footcandles) since pedestrians and motorists already used to the dark will need little light for crossing the area.
Interior lighting design is very important to the industrial world. There are three primary arenas in which interior industrial lighting is applicable: factories, warehouses, and offices. All three environments require systems to be planned prior to the purchase of any equipment.
Sometimes this is for energy savings only, but in other areas, interior lighting design is a key component to worker efficiency and is essential to maintaining a safe work environment.
Office lighting is just as important in the industrial marketplace as it is in the service-oriented businesses in the general corporate world at large. Virtually every facility, no matter how devoted to manufacturing or distribution it may be, has office space of some type. Management and administration requires this separate space to oversee production and to make mission critical decisions about the company.
Interior lighting design will contribute quality assurance and improve safety in factories where products are manufactured. Every factory needs a lighting plan before it goes out and buys lighting equipment.
It is quite possible that you will discover that newer, more energy efficient lights engineered with longer lamp life could save money on both power and maintenance cycles.
Energy Efficient Lighting Retrofits
These issues might create legitimate concerns for maintenance and engineering managers and others involved in project planning, but they need not be deal breakers. In fact, they might not even be real obstacles. Organizations often make decisions based on uncertain or incomplete data, and diminish potential ROI by not completing due diligence.
Lighting retrofits typify this scenario. These projects can help institutional and commercial facilities curtail energy use and create more efficient and aesthetically pleasing indoor environments, but only if planners base their decisions on accurate information. Too often, managers and other team members approach retrofits with misconceptions that lead to faulty decisions.
Determining how best to cut your company's energy costs begins with hiring an energy consultant to perform an audit of your building's power use, a process that often reveals interior and exterior lighting as an area with room for improvement.
To get an idea of how inefficient lighting could cost your company, consider that interior lighting alone accounts for roughly 60% of a commercial building's annual electrical usage. When you improve your light settings, you take measures that prevent the need for additional lamps, such as: adding lenses to fixtures to focus light on certain areas, adding reflectors to fixtures to spread light, and painting walls a lighter color.
Lighting is for people. It impacts how we feel, how we interact and how productive we are. Lighting is also an art, it's impact can be dramatic or aesthetically pleasing. Bad lighting brings negative impacts.
It is the small changes that make a big difference in what it means to be green. It is the desirable outcomes of the changes that encourage us to find ways to make more.
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Established in 1979, Action Electric Corporation has maintained a strong commitment to meet the electrical, lighting and communication needs for the w... more »
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