Some Good Practices in Lighting
1. Installation of energy efficient fluorescent lamps in place of "Conventional"
fluorescent lamps.
Energy efficient lamps are based on the highly sophisticated tri-phosphor fluorescent powder
technology. They offer excellent colour rendering properties in addition to the very high
luminous
efficacy.
2. Installation of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL's) in place of incandescent lamps.
Compact fluorescent lamps are generally considered best for replacement of lower wattage
incandescent lamps. These lamps have efficacy ranging from 55 to 65 lumens/Watt. The average
rated lamp life is 10,000 hours, which is 10 times longer than that of a normal incandescent
lamps. CFL's are highly suitable for places such as Living rooms, Hotel lounges, Bars,
Restaurants, Pathways, Building entrances, Corridors, etc.
3. Installation of metal halide lamps in place of mercury / sodium vapour lamps.
Metal halide lamps provide high color rendering index when compared with mercury &
sodium vapour lamps. These lamps offer efficient white light. Hence, metal halide is the
choice for colour critical applications where, higher illumination levels are required. These
lamps are highly suitable for applications such as assembly line, inspection areas, painting
shops, etc. It is recommended to install metal halide lamps where colour rendering is more
critical.
4. Installation of High Pressure Sodium Vapour (HPSV) lamps for applications where
colour rendering is not critical.
High pressure sodium vapour (HPSV) lamps offer more efficacy. But the colour rendering
property
of HPSV is very low. Hence, it is recommended to install HPSV lamps for applications
such street lighting, yard lighting, etc.
5. Installation of LED panel indicator lamps in place of filament lamps.
Panel indicator lamps are used widely in industries for monitoring, fault indication, signaling,
etc. Conventionally filament lamps are used for the purpose, which has got the following
disadvantages:
• High energy consumption (15 W/lamp)
• Failure of lamps is high (Operating life less than 1,000 hours)
• Very sensitive to the voltage fluctuations Recently, the conventional filament lamps are
being replaced with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
The LEDs have the following merits over the filament lamps.
• Lesser power consumption (Less than 1 W/lamp)
• Withstand high voltage fluctuation in the power supply.
• Longer operating life (more than 1,00,000 hours)
It is recommended to install LEDs for panel indicator lamps at the design stage.
6. Light distribution
Energy efficiency cannot be obtained by mere selection of more efficient lamps alone. Efficient
luminaires along with the lamp of high efficacy achieve the optimum efficiency. Mirror-optic
luminaires with a high output ratio and bat-wing light distribution can save energy.
For achieving better efficiency, luminaires that are having light distribution characteristics
appropriate for the task interior should be selected. The luminaires fitted with a lamp should
ensure that discomfort glare and veiling reflections are minimised. Installation of suitable
luminaires,
depends upon the height - Low, Medium & High Bay. Luminaires for high intensity discharge
lamp are classified as follows:
• Low bay, for heights less than 5 metres.
• Medium bay, for heights between 5 – 7 metres.
• High bay, for heights greater than 7 metres.
8. Lighting System
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System layout and fixing of the luminaires play a major role in achieving energy efficiency.
This also varies from application to application. Hence, fixing the luminaires at optimum
height and usage of mirror optic luminaries leads to energy efficiency.
7. Light Control
The simplest and the most widely used form of controlling a lighting installation is "On-Off"
switch. The initial investment for this set up is extremely low, but the resulting operational costs
may be high. This does not provide the flexibility to control the lighting, where it is not
required.
Hence, a flexible lighting system has to be provided, which will offer switch-off or reduction
in lighting level, when not needed. The following light control systems can be adopted at
design stage:
• Grouping of lighting system, to provide greater flexibility in lighting control
Grouping of lighting system, which can be controlled manually or by timer control.
• Installation of microprocessor based controllers
Another modern method is usage of microprocessor / infrared controlled dimming or switching
circuits. The lighting control can be obtained by using logic units located in the ceiling, which
can take pre-programme commands and activate specified lighting circuits. Advanced lighting
control system uses movement detectors or lighting sensors, to feed signals to the controllers.
8. Optimum usage of daylighting
Whenever the orientation of a building permits, day lighting can be used in combination with
electric lighting. This should not introduce glare or a severe imbalance of brightness in visual
environment. Usage of day lighting (in offices/air conditioned halls) will have to be very limited,
because the air conditioning load will increase on account of the increased solar heat dissipation
into the area. In many cases, a switching method, to enable reduction of electric light in
the window zones during certain hours, has to be designed.
9. Installation of "exclusive" transformer for lighting
In most of the industries, lighting load varies between 2 to 10%. Most of the problems faced by
the lighting equipment and the "gears" is due to the "voltage" fluctuations. Hence, the lighting
equipment has to be isolated from the power feeders. This provides a better voltage regulation
for the lighting. This will reduce the voltage related problems, which in turn increases the
efficiency
of the lighting system.
• Installation of servo stabilizer for lighting feeder
Wherever, installation of exclusive transformer for lighting is not economically attractive, servo
stabilizer can be installed for the lighting feeders. This will provide stabilized voltage for the
lighting equipment. The performance of "gears" such as chokes, ballasts, will also improved
due to the stabilized voltage.
This set up also provides, the option to optimise the voltage level fed to the lighting feeder.
In many plants, during the non-peaking hours, the voltage levels are on the higher side. During
this period, voltage can be optimised, without any significant drop in the illumination level.
8. Lighting System
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10. Installation of high frequency (HF) electronic ballasts in place of conventional
ballasts
New high frequency (28–32 kHz) electronic ballasts have the following advantages over the
traditional magnetic ballasts:
Energy savings up to 35%
Less heat dissipation, which reduces the air conditioning load
• Lights instantly
• Improved power factor
• Operates in low voltage load
• Less in weight
• Increases the life of lamp
The advantage of HF electronic ballasts, out weigh the initial investment (higher costs when
compared with conventional ballast). In the past the failure rate of electronic ballast in Indian
Industries was high. Recently, many manufacturers have improved the design of the ballast
leading to drastic improvement in their reliability. The life of the electronic ballast is high
especially
when, used in a lighting circuit fitted with a automatic voltage stabiliser.
