1. Effective lighting calculation

In the lighting world, there are two software that are free to use and everyone can download it. The software are Relux and Dialux. Using the software is simple, using the software potential and in a proper way is more challenging. Each of the software has is plusses and minuses.
By GRAH Lighting, we use different lighting calculation software but here we would like to represent the free to use lighting calculation software as Relux, Dialux and Litecalc and how to proper approach into the lighting world and what are the keys everyone has to know before starting with the lighting calculation.
Before choosing the proper lighting calculation software, it is needed to analyse the environment that has to be illuminated. The person has to know what will be illuminated (indoor, outdoor, both).

2. What do we need to start?

For a proper lighting calculation, it is important to have a sketch of the area with dimensions. It can be a simple paper sketch, pdf file, but for a best-detailed calculation is a dwg file the best solution. Everyone who is making lighting calculation has to know the standards. Standard for indoor lighting is EN 12464-1 and for outdoor lighting EN 12464-2, EN 13201-1, EN 13201-2, EN 13201-3, EN 13201-4, EN 13201-5.

2.1. Indoor questions?

– Home, public place (hospital, libraries, hotel, bus or train stations, garages…), sport halls
– Environmental check (what is around the building, and how the light would affect the environment (private houses, zoo, garden or parks…)
– Is this a new building or is there an existing illumination and how it looks like (what it is illumination for now, is it proper illumination but old one…)
– For what purpose will the indoor places will be used (parking, office, production, teaching, measurement, stock, eating, resting, reception…)
– What are the standards for different rooms

2.2. Outdoor questions?

– Public place, road, industry, cross-section, roundabout…
– What are the standards for a proper illumination for industry and/or street lighting
– Road lighting calculation questions (road category, road structure, pole position, near public places (schools, hospitals, hotels…)
– Industry (what kind of industry, traffic inside the industry…)
– Is there existing illumination and what kind off

3. Choosing the right software?

After asking you the first basic questions, it is time to choose the proper software, but how. Here we have to ask our self:
– What each software can give us as an effective result and freedom at the calculation. There for are various opinion and for visualization and more complex calculation we recommend Dialux, for more technical approach Relux is a better solution. However, every user should make his own opinion.
– What results do we want to get on the end, who will check the data (architects, investors, community, private…)

4. Choosing the right luminaires?

After you answered yourself all the questions and prepared the layout for the luminaires, it is time to choose the proper product. However, it is important to know which product at which “position”
– Can the luminaires based on existing one be replaced 1:1
– What are the environmental conditions (vandalism, animals living in the area, humidity, temperature, workplace, traffic / activities…)

5. Luminaires used in the lighting calculations

Each family of products have their special characteristics and are designed to fulfill a specific need, illumination and standard.
In the field of indoor lighting, we are orientated to focus on homogeny illumination with less possible glare. This is in lighting calculation represented as UGR. As lower the UGR value is, more comfortable is the working area.
In the filed of outdoor lighting the glare is used in values marked as D (Glare index class) and G (Luminous intensity class).

6. Results

As there are different types of luminaires for indoor and outdoor lighting, there are also different results that have to be taken in consideration by planning.
Indoor lighting:
– Lux values in different task areas
– Homogeny illumination (avoid quick drop of lux values in one room)
– UGR values on different task areas
– Cylindrical and half cylindrical values
– Maintenance factor
Outdoor lighting:
– Lux values based on different outdoor areas
– Critical areas where is high risk of accidents
– Homogeny illumination

Street lighting
– Candela values base on different road classes
– Value of glare index class
– Value of luminous intensity class
– Uniformity values
– TI values
– IER values
– Cylindrical values (pedestrian crossings)