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LIGHTING FOR THE HOME

Lighting is not only about lighting up a space. It’s so much more: it’s the basic prerequisite for reproducing form and colour when we want to create ambiance and a cosy atmosphere at home. In addition to being important for our eyes and brain, light affects our ability to concentrate and our wellbeing.

Basically, make sure you make the best use of daylight, allowing it to penetrate all the spaces it can reach. Adjust artificial lighting as needed.

Think about the functional aspect of lighting in your various rooms, so that you can tailor it to your own needs. Bear in mind you might have to cater to various needs in the same room (e.g. creating cosy moments at the dinner table or providing adequate lighting for someone doing homework on a dark winter evening). This is equally important whether you’re choosing lamps or light sources.

It’s a good idea to use many different types of lampsin your home that can then be switched on as needed. Light up your room using small light islands, so you don’t get any dark corners. Bear in mind that form and space is defined through the interplay between light and shadow.

Most successful interior solutions using artificial light rely on a combination of diffuse and direct light. Diffuse light provides a soft light that illuminates the room. You can create diffuse light by using lamps enclosed within glass, paper etc. containers (e.g. Caravaggio Opal and Lullaby). This means that, instead of being projected in a single direction, the intensity of the light is softened by the material from which the lampshade is made. An effective use of direct light is to project it onto a surface. That way, the light becomes functional and focuses attention. Direct light is usually produced by metal lamps (e.g. Caravaggio, Orient, Calabash and Radon).

Lighting that’s done properly doesn’t create glare. This is one the few things lighting experts agree on. Position your lamps in such a way that their light sources don’t create glare and follow the manufacturer’s advice on the maximum length of the light source.

Use a dimmer to create the perfect atmosphere with your lamps. Please note, though, that many energy-saving bulbs cannot be dimmed without producing poorer light. The choice of lamps on offer is rapidly expanding and, so, there are many good dimmable light sources that don’t compromise on lighting quality. Many LED light sources are suitable for dimming.

LIGHTING FOR YOUR LIVING ROOM
A living room has several different functions, each one calling for a different lighting solution. It’s a good idea to fit your living room with several lamps that can be switched on as needed and that can be dimmed. Combine functional reading lights with tea lights. You can suspend pendant lamps over your coffee table, but you can also cluster them beside your couch. This will allow you to suspend your pendant lamps lower and create an unobstructed view.

Make sure you position lamps in the corners of your living room: this creates a cosy atmosphere and prevent gloomy dark areas. Invest in quality light sources with a high light quality.

LIGHTING FOR YOUR DINING ROOM
Lighting in your dining room must ensure enough light for you to be able to see and enjoy the food you’re eating. It must also be adequate enough for you to be able to do handwork, work at a computer, play board games etc. At the same time, bear in mind that the lighting in your living room can create a pleasant atmosphere when you have people over for dinner.

Suspend pendant lamps over the table so the entire table area is illuminated. Depending on your needs and wishes, you can suspend a single large pendant lamp or several small ones.

In the Nordic countries, the standard recommended height for pendant lamps is 60-65 cm above the table. This prevent glare and ensures an unobstructed view. Metal pendant lamps with a direct light focus attention on the dining table, whereas glass lamps with a diffuse light illuminate the entire living room. Fit your pendant lamps with a dimmer device if you want to be able to adjust light intensity. Make high light quality a priority and pay a little extra for your light source.

Create a cosy atmosphere in your living room using several small light islands along the walls or in the corners.

LIGHTING FOR YOUR KITCHEN
Being the most important work area in a home, the kitchen places great demands on lighting. Make sure your light sources have an adequate colour reproduction rating (Ra), so you can see the colours of the food you’re preparing. Suspend several lamps so the light is dispersed evenly and so that it covers the preparation and cooking areas. Wall lamps can be combined with pendant lamps with good effect. Invest in light sources with a quality colour reproduction: they will make your food look more appetizing.

LIGHTING FOR YOUR BEDROOM
Good room and bed lighting is essential for bedrooms. You could, for example, combine a pendant lamp with diffuse light (e.g. Caravaggio Opal, Atomheart or Lullaby) with wall lamps with direct light (e.g. Caravaggio or Radon). Make sure your wall lamps can be adjusted for reading, if required.

LIGHTING FOR READING
Regardless of whether your reading light is supplied by a floor, table or wall lamp, always make sure the light doesn’t land directly on what you’re reading. You can create a shadow contrast by arranging the light to fall diagonally across your book. This can be used to great effect if the lamp head is adjustable, so that the light can be adjusted to different people and sitting positions.

LED – BULB OR BUILD-IN?

Your lighting fixtures will consume less energy regardless of whether you use a lamp with an in-built LED bulb or an LED light source in a conventional lamp, plugged into a standard socket (usually known as a retrofit LED). This means you don’t need to replace your lamps in order to install LED Wave technology. The question is, rather, when you should switch to LED.

Today, most LED light sources are available with a colour reproduction rating of Ra 80-92. Colour reproduction indicates how well a light source reproduces colours and is an important measure of how we experience light quality. In the near future, it’s expected that we’ll be able to buy LED light sources with a reproduction rating of Ra 98 or higher.

LED technology is still developing rapidly, which means LED will allow us to continually optimise colour reproduction where it matters most (e.g. in a pendant lamp hanging over a dining or conference table). All you need to do is replace your existing light sources with new, improved LED alternatives. Such upgrades of light quality are quite viable financially.

LED light sources are available with many different socket types and will meet most requirements.

CHOOSING A LIGHT SOURCE

This guide provides an overview of the light sources/bulbs that Lightyears recommends for its lamps. Understanding the many technical terms found on the packaging of a light source can be difficult. We, therefore, provide here an outline of the three key parameters.

LUMINOUS FLUX
Luminous flux is measured in lumens (lm) and indicates how much light is emitted by the light source/bulb. In the past, power usage (measured in watts) was used as a reference for the quantity of light emitted by a light source. As the incandescent light bulb with a wire filament was being phased out and new substitution technology was entering the market, the previous reference framework was no longer as useful as it had once been. This is because the new luminaire technologies proved to be far more effective than the traditional filament bulb. This is also why a 25W light source can’t be directly compared to various other types because luminous efficacy varies greatly between the types.

The table below provides a rough outline of the power usage in watts (W) and luminous efficacy in lumens (lm) of various luminaire technologies.

Filament bulb	Halogen bulb	Energy-saving bulb	LED bulb
25 W/200 lm	18 W/200 lm	5 W/230 lm	3.5 W/250 lm
40 W/360 lm	28 W/350 lm	8 W/400 lm	5 W/350 lm
60 W/600 lm	42 W/630 lm	11 W/600 lm	7.5 W/600 lm
75 W/800 lm	52 W/840 lm	14 W/800 lm	10 W/800 lm
100 W/1,200 lm	70 W/1,240 lm	20 W/1,150 lm	18 W/1,500 lm

Actually, it makes more sense to speak of the efficacy (output) of luminaire technologies, which is measured in lumens per watt:

Filament bulbs	10 lm/W
Halogen bulbs	15-18 lm/W
Energy-saving bulbs	50-60 lm/W
LED bulbs	70-80 lm/W

The rule of thumb is that energy-saving bulbs have 5-6 times more luminous efficacy per watt, and LED bulbs 7-8 times, than the conventional filament bulb.

COLOUR TEMPERATURE

Colour temperature tells us how hot or cold a light source is. While blue-spectrum light is perceived as being cool, red-spectrum light is perceived as being hot. Colour temperature is measured in kelvins: the higher the Kelvin rating, the cooler the light. We in the Nordic countries prefer the warm spectrum, which is characterised by a low colour temperature of 2,600 – 3,000 K. The old-fashioned filament bulb has a colour temperature of 2,700 Kelvin.

COLOUR REPRODUCTION

Colour reproduction indicates the ability of a light source to reproduce colours. Colour reproduction is measured in Ra (or CRI) – the higher the Ra rating, the better the colour reproduction. Halogen and filament bulbs have a Ra rating of almost 100, while energy-saving and LED bulbs have a Ra rating of 80 as a minimum (this is a statutory requirement). Always choose light sources with a high Ra rating for rooms where colour reproduction is particularly important (e.g. the kitchen, dining room and reading lamps).

TYPES OF LIGHT SOURCES

The choice of a light source depends, not only on the quality of light, but also on its function, power usage and purchase price. All light sources have their pros and cons, but current quality-to-price improvements of LED light sources are so encouraging that LED may be expected to out-compete the other types within just a few years. In return, we’ll be able to enjoy increasing light quality at a lower cost.

FACTS ON LIGHT SOURCES

LED LIGHT SOURCES/BULBS

LED is short for Light Emitting Diode, i.e. a diode that emits light. LED light sources light up immediately; they consume little energy and typically have a good colour reproduction. A LED light source is relatively expensive, but usually has a very long service life. Most LED light sources are dimmable. They should be recycled because more than 85% of their components can be reused.

HERE’S A GOOD TIP: Choose energy class A+ or A++ bulbs with a service life of 25,000 hours, making sure to choose the right colour temperature (2,600 – 3,000 kelvins indicates a warm-spectrum light).

ENERGY-SAVING BULBS/COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS
An energy-saving bulb consumes little energy, has a long service life, is safe to use and is usually relatively inexpensive. However, it’ll take some time before an energy-saving bulb reaches maximum performance. Not all energy-saving bulbs are dimmable. They must be disposed of with care as they contain mercury.

HERE’S A GOOD TIP: Choose at least an energy class A bulb/lamp, with a minimum service life of 10,000 hours and a Ra rating over 90 if you want good-quality colour reproduction.

HALOGEN BULBS/HALOGEN INCANDESCENT BULBS
A halogen bulb does a very good job in terms of colour reproduction and produces a warm-spectrum light. It lights up immediately and is inexpensive. The bad news is that it consumes a lot of energy, has a short service life and will, therefore, prove expensive in the long term.

HERE’S A GOOD TIP: When your halogen incandescent bulb stops working, consider replacing it with an LED light source.

LIGHTING FOR PROJECTS

How do you create effective lighting in a professional environment? It depends on the nature of the business, because lighting demands vary depending on whether you’re furnishing a restaurant, a shop or a hotel lobby.

Always start by performing an analysis of needs and functions. Assess how the space will be used and what the lighting requirements are. Be sure to check whether there are functional requirements for the lamps themselves (e.g. energy efficiency or central intelligent lighting control systems). Also assess the regulatory requirements, which specify minimum requirements for illumination, for example.

Make the best use of daylight, allowing it to penetrate all the places it can reach. Adjust artificial lighting as needed.

Combine direct and diffuse light. Direct light is used as a functional light. An effective use of direct light is to project it onto a surface and, that way, it can be used to create zones within the area being furnished. Direct light is produced by metal lamps (e.g. Caravaggio, Orient, Mingus and Calabash). Diffuse light provides a soft light that illuminates the room. Diffuse light is produced by lamps enclosed within glass, paper etc. container (e.g. Caravaggio Opal and Lullaby).

Lighting that’s done properly doesn’t create glare. Position lamps in such a way that you’re not affected by the glare of the light sources Many pendant lamps come with accompanying diffusers that guarantee that no discomfort will be caused regardless of the height at which the pendant lamp is suspended.

Lightyears offers ambitious and competent savings for interior furnishing using decorative lighting. Feel free to contact us for advice about your next business project. You’re also welcome to contact us at any time for help with lighting calculation and borrowed lighting or to submit a request for us to present our collection on your premises or in one of our showrooms.

HOW TO HANG YOUR LAMPS

How many pendant lamps should you use to light an x-metre-long table? And at what height should they be suspended?

These are some of the most frequently asked questions when people buy and mount pendant lamps. But there’s no single right answer to them because it’s a matter of personal taste. Nonetheless, we provide below an example of how you can ensure adequate lighting over your table area.

In the Nordic countries, pendant lamps are usually suspended at a height of 60-65 cm above the table. This distance ensures the greatest possible amount of light covers the table area without lamps needing to be hung so low that they obstruct your view when you’re sitting at the table. You can suspend a lamp at a greater height, but that means the light dispersed over the table will appear weaker and there’s a risk of glare as you’ll be able to see the actual light source.

Professional fittings

If you’d like to do a visualisation or lighting calculation, feel free to download the 3D and lighting calculation files from our download center.

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