LIGHTING DESIGN BY LUMEN METHOD

(WITH EXAMPLES):
DEFINITIONS IN ELECTRICAL LIGHTING DESIGN:
The following are some of the definitions which we come across in the design of electric
lighting scheme.

1) UTILIZATION FACTOR:
Utilization Factor or Co-efficient of utilization. It may be defined as “the ratio of total lumens
received on the working plane to the total lumens emitted by the light source”.i.e.

Utilization factor =Lumens received on the working plane/Lumens emitted by the lamp

FACTOR EFFECTING UTILIZATION FACTOR:

Type of light, light fitting, Colour surface of walls and ceiling, mounting height of lamps,
Area to be illuminated

Its value lies between 0.4 and 0.6 for direct fittings it varies from 0.1 to 0.35 for indirect
fittings

2) Depreciation or Maintenance factor

It may be defined as “the ratio of illumination under normal working condition to the
illumination when everything is clean or new” i.e.

D.F = Illumination under normal working conditions / Illumination when everything is clean.

The maintenance factor is based on how often the lights are cleaned and replaced. It takes
into account such factors as decreased efficiency with age, accumulation of dust within the
fitting itself and the depreciation of reflectance as walls and ceilings age. For convenience, it
is usually given as three options:

Good = 0.70

Medium = 0.65

Poor = 0.55

3) WASTE LIGHT FACTOR:

When a surface is illuminated by a number of lamps, there is certain amount of wastage due
to overlapping of light waves. Its value will be between 1.2 to 1.5
4) REFLECTION FACTOR:
It may be defined as “the ratio of luminous flux leaving the surface to the luminous flux
incident on it”. It’s value will be always less than 1

5) ABSORPTION FACTOR:
When the atmosphere is full of snow or smoke fumes, it absorbs some light. Hence
absorption factor may be defined as “the ratio of net lumens available on the working plane
after absorption to the total lumens emitted by the lamp”. It’s value varies from 0.5 to 1

6) LUMINOUS EFFICIENCY OR SPECIFIC OUT PUT

It may be defined as “the ratio of number of lumens emitted to the electric power in take of a
source” it’s unit is lumen/watt (lm/W)

7) SPACING TO MOUNTING HEIGHT RATIO (SHR)

The Spacing to Mounting Height Ratio (SHR) is the spacing

between luminaires
divided by their height above the horizontal reference plane.

8) ROOM INDEX:
The room index is a ratio, describing how the room's height compares to its length and
width. It is given by: Where L is the length of the room, W is its width, and Hm is the
mounting height above the work plane.

LUMEN METHOD STEPS:

1. Find required lux level

2. Select luminaire

3. Determine room index

4. Determine Number of Fixtures

N = number of lamps required.

E = illuminance level required (lux)

A = area at working plane height (m2)

F = average luminous flux from each lamp (lm)

UF= utilisation factor,

MF= maintenance factor,

5. Determine Minimum spacing between luminaire

Minimum spacing = SHR * Hm

Hm= Mounting height

SHR= Space to height ratio.

6. Determine Number of required rows of luminaire along width of

the room
Number of required rows= width of the room/ Minimum spacing

7. Determine Number of luminaire in each row

Number of luminaire in each row= Total luminaire / Number of rows

8. Axial spacing along luminaire

Axial spacing= Length of the room/ Number of luminaire in each row

9. Transverse spacing between luminaire

Transverse spacing = Width of the room/ Number of luminaire in each row

EXAMPLE 1:
An office has length of 20m, width=10m,height=3m.

1) Ceiling to desk height is 2m.

2) Area to be illuminated to a general is 250 lux using twin lamp 32 watt CFL Luminaire with
a SHR of 1.25.

3) Each lamp has an initial output of 85 lumen per watt.

4) Maintenance factor is 0.63, Utilisation factor is 0.69

Design a lighting system for this office

EXAMPLE 2:
The office measures 10*7 m with a floor to ceiling height of 3m. The working plane height is
0.8m. Office is being used for general office duties including some computer use. Determine
number of luminaires required in this office