Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 261Apr 07, 2016 12:37 pm Saw some of our lights actually on today and really happy! Thanks 1960s for your recs. We've gone for the Domus deco 13w warm white and Domus deepset and are really happy with them. The lights aren't harsh but are nice and bright. Custom knockdown rebuild Newcastle NSW viewtopic.php?t=78271 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 262Apr 08, 2016 9:24 am To everyone who has asked a question recently, just letting you know I have been flat out lately and haven't had any spare time. I'll get to your questions as soon as possible. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 263May 04, 2016 9:36 pm hello hoping to get your expert advice I am looking at getting a sensor light to be placed next to my garage. It is a wall without an eave. Will an IP44 light suffice, or do I need higher IP? I can't seem to find any sensor lights that are IP66 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 264May 05, 2016 4:53 pm IP44 should be fine - I try and use IP54 or higher for exterior stuff but for domestic it should be ok. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 265May 18, 2016 7:29 pm Hi, Can you please give me your opinions of the following downlights? I am looking at either the Ruby 10w warm white or the Platinum 15w warm white. 1) http://premiumlighting.com.au/product/r ... ht-series/ Specs: http://premiumlighting.com.au/wp-conten ... 6_Ruby.pdf 2) http://premiumlighting.com.au/product/p ... ht-series/ Specs: http://premiumlighting.com.au/wp-conten ... atinum.pdf Is it worth spending more for the platinum downlight? I think the price is close to double for the platinum. Are there any downlights that you would highly recommend? Cheers! Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 266May 18, 2016 7:37 pm Hi To be quite honest, I'm not a fan of either. I steer clear of downlights with frosted diffusers. They are high glare. I generally go for something where the light source is recessed back into the luminaire with a deep reflector and either no diffuser at all, or a clear glass lens. If you have time, skim through the earlier pages of this thread and you'll find a fair bit of information about glare, and some downlights that are good for being low glare. Cheers Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 267May 19, 2016 11:51 am Thanks for your prompt reply! Another question that I have is, does the CRI really matter? Will you be able to easily tell the difference between something that is 80+ CRI vs 95? Also, what is the ideal beam angle? Cheers! Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 268May 19, 2016 1:21 pm CRI is important if you want to display colours accurately. For example if you have bright coloured furniture or artwork, the colours will appear much more vivid under a light source with a high CRI. You would certainly notice the difference between CRI80 and CRI95 if you put some coloured clothing under it or something. If they were both shining on a white wall then you may not notice the difference. Beam angle all depends what you're trying to do. If it's just for general area lighting with a normal ceiling height of 2.4-2.7m, you could go for 40-60 degree beam. If you are trying to highlight something specific, you'd probably go for a narrower beam, 15-30 degrees. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 269May 19, 2016 1:49 pm Once again, thank you for your prompt and helpful reply. In your opinion, is it worth paying more for a better CRI downlight? Can you please confirm if I am going down the right path? 1) Bedrooms, stairs, hallways, store, linen, bathroom, powder, toilet, cinema, office - wide beam angle is fine? Might be between 80-100. 2) Living, dining, kitchen - narrow beam angle of 60 degree is fine? Cheers! Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 270May 19, 2016 3:00 pm 60 degrees is actually what we call "very wide flood" beam. Anything with a beam angle of more than about 60-70 degrees implies that it has a frosted opal diffuser and will inevitably produce high glare - I would steer clear. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 271May 19, 2016 5:13 pm 1960sModernistHome 60 degrees is actually what we call "very wide flood" beam. Anything with a beam angle of more than about 60-70 degrees implies that it has a frosted opal diffuser and will inevitably produce high glare - I would steer clear. Would something like that be a lot better? http://premiumlighting.com.au/product/apex-downlight/ They mentioned there that it is clear lens. Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 272May 19, 2016 7:35 pm Yeah that one looks good! Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 274May 26, 2016 3:41 pm Hey 1960s! Wondering how you've been doing? Hope everything is under control. I've read through the entire thread so thank you so much for your input. It's totally changed our electrical plan. If you have the time, would you be able to answer a few of my questions? If not, all good and I hope you get a breather soon I'm pretty confident the plan itself is pretty good so far and I won't have to show you that unless you're really keen. 1. The entrance will be a feature of our home. It's about 2.1m wide with 3.2m high and 5.3 long. Rather than two or three downlights in the centre of the walkway which is standard, I was thinking about a strip of closely spaced but maybe lower power downlights running along one wall to create a wall wash and then one or two downlights on the opposite wall lighting up some art works. Is that going to be expensive or overkill? Is there a better way? I looked at track lighting and spotlights and think they won't look good in the entrance way. 2. I'm wondering what your suggestions would be for a theatre room with a TV. Would you only perhaps place two lights on the rear wall and maybe one on a side wall and with no lights near the wall with the tv? Were also putting a desk next to the tv so the theatre is also the study. Will a desk lamp be enough for the study corner? 3. As we want to pay cash for our final electrical package, we're planning a very bare bones electrical pack with our builder. They tend to put lights in the middle of rooms. We're planning to specify exactly where we want them so that a sparky can just upgrade the existing lights and add a lot more lights later without having to patch up holes in the roof where we don't actually want lights. Does that seem sensible? Thanks so much in advance! Andy and Georgia U Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 275Jun 18, 2016 3:44 pm I hope you are still around to give advice! We are spending quite a bit on acoustic insulation (flight path) as well as thermal insulation and wondering what you think of the cones that you can get to put over LED downlights to lessen the impact of having downlight holes in the ceiling? Edit - I just saw your post on pg 1 - " In practice, LED downlights do not get anywhere near as hot as halogen downlights, so they are not a fire risk in that sense. But if you cover them with insulation it affects the heat disspation of the luminaire. The main issue with shrouding that I can see is that it may restrict heat disspation from the LED heat sink on the back of the downlight, which in turn may affect performance and possibly warranty or premature failures." I wonder if this would apply to something like Tenmat Thermal Loft Cone, surely they couldn't sell them if they caused the downlights to fail?? Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 276Jun 19, 2016 9:34 pm strawbola Hey 1960s! Wondering how you've been doing? Hope everything is under control. I've read through the entire thread so thank you so much for your input. It's totally changed our electrical plan. If you have the time, would you be able to answer a few of my questions? If not, all good and I hope you get a breather soon Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I have been flat out lately without much spare time. Hope it's not too late. strawbola 1. The entrance will be a feature of our home. It's about 2.1m wide with 3.2m high and 5.3 long. Rather than two or three downlights in the centre of the walkway which is standard, I was thinking about a strip of closely spaced but maybe lower power downlights running along one wall to create a wall wash and then one or two downlights on the opposite wall lighting up some art works. Is that going to be expensive or overkill? Is there a better way? I looked at track lighting and spotlights and think they won't look good in the entrance way. I like your thinking. Make sure you select downlights with a nice controlled beam and tilt adjustment. Personally I think track is not a bad idea (I have recessed track through my foyer with track mounted spotlights). Track also gives you plenty of flexibility to change later. strawbola 2. I'm wondering what your suggestions would be for a theatre room with a TV. Would you only perhaps place two lights on the rear wall and maybe one on a side wall and with no lights near the wall with the tv? Were also putting a desk next to the tv so the theatre is also the study. Will a desk lamp be enough for the study corner? I'd have very minimal lighting. Maybe some downlights in the ceiling for cleaning etc, and then maybe have a power point in the corner somewhere that is switched from the light switch, and then you can buy a nice soft light floor lamp? Desk lamp for the study... should be fine. strawbola 3. As we want to pay cash for our final electrical package, we're planning a very bare bones electrical pack with our builder. They tend to put lights in the middle of rooms. We're planning to specify exactly where we want them so that a sparky can just upgrade the existing lights and add a lot more lights later without having to patch up holes in the roof where we don't actually want lights. Does that seem sensible? Yep sounds like a good idea. Try speaking directly to your builder's sparky, they might do your extras during the main build for cash. Much easier than coming back and doing it later... depends on their arrangement with the builder. Some builders don't mind, some won't let their subbies do extras direct to the client (they want their cut). Hope it goes well for you. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 277Jun 19, 2016 9:38 pm lenarufus I hope you are still around to give advice! We are spending quite a bit on acoustic insulation (flight path) as well as thermal insulation and wondering what you think of the cones that you can get to put over LED downlights to lessen the impact of having downlight holes in the ceiling? Edit - I just saw your post on pg 1 - " In practice, LED downlights do not get anywhere near as hot as halogen downlights, so they are not a fire risk in that sense. But if you cover them with insulation it affects the heat disspation of the luminaire. The main issue with shrouding that I can see is that it may restrict heat disspation from the LED heat sink on the back of the downlight, which in turn may affect performance and possibly warranty or premature failures." I wonder if this would apply to something like Tenmat Thermal Loft Cone, surely they couldn't sell them if they caused the downlights to fail?? I think the shrouds will be fine as long as they have an air gap around the light (say 50-100mm). Downlights are supposed to be labelled on the box or in the installation instructions as to how much free space they require around them. I think some of them these days are approved to be directly covered by insulation - personally I am sceptical how this will affect longevity of the LEDs, but that's what they reckon... Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 278Jun 20, 2016 7:51 am 1960sModernistHome strawbola Hey 1960s! Wondering how you've been doing? Hope everything is under control. I've read through the entire thread so thank you so much for your input. It's totally changed our electrical plan. If you have the time, would you be able to answer a few of my questions? If not, all good and I hope you get a breather soon Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I have been flat out lately without much spare time. Hope it's not too late. strawbola 1. The entrance will be a feature of our home. It's about 2.1m wide with 3.2m high and 5.3 long. Rather than two or three downlights in the centre of the walkway which is standard, I was thinking about a strip of closely spaced but maybe lower power downlights running along one wall to create a wall wash and then one or two downlights on the opposite wall lighting up some art works. Is that going to be expensive or overkill? Is there a better way? I looked at track lighting and spotlights and think they won't look good in the entrance way. I like your thinking. Make sure you select downlights with a nice controlled beam and tilt adjustment. Personally I think track is not a bad idea (I have recessed track through my foyer with track mounted spotlights). Track also gives you plenty of flexibility to change later. strawbola 2. I'm wondering what your suggestions would be for a theatre room with a TV. Would you only perhaps place two lights on the rear wall and maybe one on a side wall and with no lights near the wall with the tv? Were also putting a desk next to the tv so the theatre is also the study. Will a desk lamp be enough for the study corner? I'd have very minimal lighting. Maybe some downlights in the ceiling for cleaning etc, and then maybe have a power point in the corner somewhere that is switched from the light switch, and then you can buy a nice soft light floor lamp? Desk lamp for the study... should be fine. strawbola 3. As we want to pay cash for our final electrical package, we're planning a very bare bones electrical pack with our builder. They tend to put lights in the middle of rooms. We're planning to specify exactly where we want them so that a sparky can just upgrade the existing lights and add a lot more lights later without having to patch up holes in the roof where we don't actually want lights. Does that seem sensible? Yep sounds like a good idea. Try speaking directly to your builder's sparky, they might do your extras during the main build for cash. Much easier than coming back and doing it later... depends on their arrangement with the builder. Some builders don't mind, some won't let their subbies do extras direct to the client (they want their cut). Hope it goes well for you. Not too late mate and thanks so much you've been busy a while remember to take it easy where you can Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 279Jun 20, 2016 10:31 am Thanks a lot for this thread, it's been invaluable. An embarrassingly ignorant question - on many of the lighting plans posted there are dotted lines - do these refer to the layout of the wiring in the ceiling, and how do they relate to light switches? How is this layout determined, does it have to be done by an electrician? Re: Ask a lighting design engineer - general Q&A 280Jun 20, 2016 11:30 am lenarufus Thanks a lot for this thread, it's been invaluable. An embarrassingly ignorant question - on many of the lighting plans posted there are dotted lines - do these refer to the layout of the wiring in the ceiling, and how do they relate to light switches? How is this layout determined, does it have to be done by an electrician? It's just diagrammatic to show which lights are linked together on each switch to the electrician knows which lights to wire to each switch. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14115 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15281 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15529 |