How to Make Illuminating Lights

As any Hollywood film buff knows, every scene starts with a call for "lights!" It doesn't matter if the scene is artificially created for a film or if it's a scene played out in real life; just about every human activity is better when it's well-illuminated. Because light is so important to human perception, there are many options when it comes to illuminating an area. Although there are many choices, there are some general rules you can use to design illumination for a room.

Instructions

- 1
  Evaluate the lighting requirements of your room. For example, the Lighting Research Center at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI) recommends an ambient illumination level of 300 lux for general lighting, and at least 1000 lux for task lighting. These are only guidelines, however, as your requirements can be different based on personal preference, the type of task or light levels in the surrounding area.
  
  As an example, say you want a level of 750 lux on a kitchen counter that is 1 1/2 by 4 meters, and a general illumination level of 400 lux in the rest of the 5 by 6 meters kitchen.
- 2
  Calculate the total illumination on the desired area. One lux is one lumen per square meter.
  
  For the example, the overall room is 5 by 6 = 30 m^2; multiplied by 400 lumens per m^2 = 12000 lumens. The countertop area is 1.5 x 4 = 6 m^2, but part of the light on the countertop will be from the general room lights, so you need an extra 350 lumens per square meter, resulting in a total task illumination of 1050 lumens.
- 3
  
  The right luminaires can provide both performance and attractiveness.
  
  Decide upon a mixture of fixtures for your room.
  
  For example, assume you have ceiling-mounted fixtures for 20-watt compact fluorescent bulbs for the entire kitchen, and 50-watt halogen MR16 bulbs in suspended fixtures above the counter.
- 4
  Look up the light output for each type of bulb and fixture you are considering.
  
  For example, assume your compact fluorescent bulbs put out 1300 lumens each, but are put in fixtures that are 85 percent efficient, while halogen bulbs put out 625 lumens, but are put in fixtures that are 95 percent efficient. The net light output from each fluorescent fixture is about 1100 lumens, and the net from each halogen is 590 lumens.
- 5
  Calculate the required number of luminaires (light fixtures) of each type based upon the total lumens required.
  
  For your kitchen, the total number of fixtures will be
  
  12000 lumens / 1100 lumens/luminaire = 10.9, which rounds up to 11 fixtures.
  
  For the counter, 1050 lumens / 590 lumens/luminaire = 1.8, which rounds up to 2.
- 6
  Space your luminaires evenly throughout the room, aiming for an esthetically pleasing, yet functional, arrangement.
  
  Personal taste will play a large part in your luminaire layout, but the further you stray from an evenly-spaced arrangement, the less even your illumination will be. For your kitchen, your compact fluorescents will be distributed about the room, while the two halogen fixtures will be spaced over the countertop.

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