What is natural room lighting

The light of the sun is not only a source of life for all living organisms on Earth, but also an important factor influencing the performance of work, rest, etc. To ensure a comfortable environment in a house or apartment, you need to take care of high-quality natural lighting and, if possible, ensure its optimal performance.

The more windows, the better the natural light.

Definition

Natural lighting is the illumination of the Earth's surface by direct solar radiation or diffused light emanating from the sky. This is the most comfortable option during the daytime, favorable for human vision, so it should be used whenever possible.

source of natural Sveta - The sun, which radiates a powerful stream of light energy. It reaches the surface of the planet both in the form of direct and scattered radiation. To carry out all types of calculations for natural illumination for rooms, only diffuse (scattered) light is used.

The peculiarity of this indicator is that it does not have a specific value and depends on a number of characteristics:

1. Geographic latitude. The closer to the equator, the more sun falls on the surface and the higher the illumination indicators.
2. Property location. If it is located near high mountains or in a natural lowland, then the indicators decrease for natural reasons. Do not forget artificial obstacles - tall buildings nearby or trees with a dense crown.
3. Time of the year. Depending on the period, the illumination varies greatly, as the sun drops lower in the winter season and rises higher in the summer.
   In summer, the level of natural light is the highest.
4. Times of Day. The maximum illumination is in the daytime, and in the morning and evening hours it is lower.
5. Cloudiness also has a big impact. This factor can act in different ways, it is difficult to predict it accurately. Usually take into account the average level of cloudiness for a particular area.

By the way! Natural lighting can vary greatly even within a few hours. Therefore, when calculating and choosing an option, one should try to use the available light resources with maximum benefit.

Classification

Types of natural lighting in the premises are divided into 3 main groups. To choose the optimal solution and carry out all the necessary calculations, you need to understand the classification. It's simple:

1. Side lighting - the most common and simplest option, suitable for all types of buildings, regardless of the number of floors and design features. Light enters through openings in the wall, which come in different sizes and shapes depending on the required illumination.The solution is easy to implement, it provides normal light penetration, but there may be problems in large rooms where there is a long distance from the window to the wall. The problem in this case can be solved by increasing the height of the openings, but this is not always possible.
2. Top option. The advantage of this natural lighting system is that it can perfectly illuminate a room of any shape and size. The main thing is to plan the location of the openings on the roof and calculate their optimal size. But such systems are available only for one-story buildings, work on the roof is much more difficult due to the need for sealing. Another disadvantage is the large heat loss in winter, if there are a lot of openings, since it is difficult to insulate such structures.
3. Combined The solution combines top and side options to provide optimal natural light for any building. But such a project can be implemented only in one-story buildings or on the upper floors of high-rise buildings. With all the advantages, it has a big minus - the complexity of design and implementation. Windows for the roof are expensive, and it is much more difficult to make a roofing system due to the lack of a ceiling partition - it is necessary to insulate the slope with high quality.

If you combine side and top lighting, you can achieve the perfect result.

Lighting requirements are different and depend on what the room is intended for and what work will be done in it.

It must be remembered that side lighting can be either one-sided or two-sided, when the windows are located on adjacent or opposite walls. This significantly affects the illumination.

Overhead lighting is more suitable for warmer regions.

Systems and norms of natural lighting

As for the choice of system, it is necessary to proceed from the situation. Most often, standard windows are used, since this is the easiest and does not require complex calculations. To find out the optimal indicator for a particular room, use KEO - the coefficient of natural light. The following must be taken into account:

1. To calculate the coefficient, it is necessary to divide the illumination inside the room by the external indicator and multiply by 100. The result obtained will be a guideline as a percentage.
2. It makes no sense to independently calculate KEO, since the work has already been carried out by specialists from research institutes. In SNiP 23-05-95 there is a table that contains the optimal values ​​​​for all regions. You need to choose your own to clarify the indicator you need to focus on.
3. The coefficient depends on the region, the further south it is, the brighter the luminous flux and the lower the ratio between the room and the street can be. Russia is divided into 5 zones, in which the indicators vary from 0.2 to 0.5.
4. The classification also distinguishes several groups of premises depending on what kind of work will be performed. The more clearly you need to see everything, the higher the required indicators will be. But for living rooms there is not much difference, so you can be guided by the general values ​​\u200b\u200bthat are in the table below.

Table: Natural light coefficients for residential premises and norms when using artificial light

By the way! If there are large buildings or trees nearby that block the sunlight, then you need to take this moment into account and increase the coefficients based on the situation.

Light measurement

It is necessary to carry out the check with the help of special devices, it can be a luxmeter or a photometer. It is easy to use, it is enough to study a short instruction to understand the work. It is very important to measure correctly:

1. For rooms with windows on one side, the test point is the floor at a distance of one meter from the wall opposite to natural light.
2. If overhead lighting is used, then it is necessary to control the indicator in the center of the room at a height of 1 meter from the floor.
3. In apartments with up to 3 rooms, the check is carried out in one room. If there are 4 or more rooms, it is necessary to control the indicators in at least two places.

Only trusted devices should be used so that the readings are accurate. It must be remembered that if the windows are on the south or east side, then the illumination in them is much better, this applies to the northern hemisphere, in the southern it is the opposite.

To determine the light factor, you need to place the device in the right place and press the button, everything will be done automatically.

Normal natural lighting allows you to do household chores without straining your eyesight and providing optimal conditions. If, after checking, it turned out that its level is insufficient, you need to use artificial light sources to correct the situation.