1. General Remarks on Lighting Installations

According to various technical, spatial, chromatic and physiological criteria, outdoor and indoor lighting installations are designed and mounted.

Consequently, a lighting installation consists of lamps and accessories belonging to them, light sources with or without accessories, the installation as well as the indirectly or directly used environmental factors such as reflecting surfaces.

In any case, the starting point is the physiological and psychological aim of the installation, i.e. the desired degree of lighting of the working and living sphere of man for the special purpose of seeing taking into consideration economical aspects of material and energy consumption.

The times of the day, weather conditions, the various sizes of the objects to be perceived and different degrees of sensitiveness to brightness as well as perception of colours make it very complicated to decide about the type and size of a lighting installation.

For this reason, one makes use of medical findings and technical experience combined in standards regulating the parameters of lighting installations for various purposes. These parameters are definite basic values which are explained in the following.

In addition to the physiological purpose to facilitate the visual work of the eye, the artificial light has also a psychological effect which is used as emotional stimulation. Thus, for example, light can have a comfortable or aggressive effect according to colour temperature and spectral colour contents. The mood and emotional disposition of man - and also of animals - can be influenced by light. In this context, the medical effects of light must not be failed to be noticed, e.g. combatting hepatitis with babies, degermination of the air. Ecological functions of the light are reflected by the use of Lumoflor lamps in horticulture - they stimulate the growth of the plants.

Lighting fittings are required for the manifold purposes in all living and working spheres of man.

The differentiated construction of lighting fittings enables the dispersion or focussing of the light emitted by the light sources and thus the intensification or subduing the effect of a light source.

Since lighting fittings play a role also in the emotions of man, there are - in addition to universal and functional lighting fittings - also those for purposes of representation. The use of lighting fittings depends on the respective purpose and light source.

Questions for Repetition and Knowledge Testing

1. What is understood by a lighting installation?
2. By what does a lighting installation mainly stimulate man?