Calculation and installation of a lighting network on spotlights

The choice of quantity and location spotlights

Spotlights look very impressive in any living room. But the choice of such lamps, the determination of their required quantity, power and location is simply an overwhelming task for an ignorant person, able to discourage any desire to bother with “spotlights”.

Indeed, with ordinary chandeliers, everything is much simpler: you place it in the center of the room, equip the lamps with the maximum possible power - and you're done. At the very least, such a chandelier will certainly illuminate the entire room if it is not completely blocked by furniture.

FROM spotlights everything is a little more complicated. They are designed to create a uniform light flux, but in order for them to cope with their task, you will have to resort to some calculations.

In general, the calculation of the number and location of spotlights does not have fundamental differences from a similar calculation for other fixtures. The norms of this calculation can be found in any textbook on industrial safety and labor protection. However, the formulas given there are too cumbersome and take into account a very large number of factors.

We do not need academic accuracy to calculate the number of spotlights. Therefore, the main factors that we will try to take into account will be:

- type of lamps used in our fixtures;

- the power of these lamps;

- category of premises in which the installation will be carried out;

- the area of ​​this room.

We find the required number of fixtures by dividing the product of the room area in square meters and the specific power of the light flux (watts per square meter) by the power of one lamp in watts.

Under such initial conditions, only the specific power of the light flux remains an unclear quantity for us. Its values ​​for different rooms are as follows:

- kitchen: incandescent lamps (LN) - 26 W / sq. m .; halogen lamps (GL) - 30 W / sq. m; fluorescent lamps (LL) - 9 W / sq. m .; LED lamps (SL) - 4 W / sq. m .;

- bathroom: LN - 20 W / sq. m .; GL - 25 W / sq. m; LL - 7 W / sq. m .; SL - 2 W / sq. m .;

- living room: LN - 22 W / sq. m .; GL - 27 W / sq. m; LL - 8 W / sq. m .; SL - 3 W / sq. m .;

- corridor: LN - 12 W / sq. m .; GL - 12 W / sq. m; LL - 3 W / sq. m .; SL - 1 W / sq. m .;

- bedroom: LN - 15 W / sq. m .; GL - 16 W / sq. m; LL - 5 W / sq. m .; SL - 2 W / sq. m .;

- children's room: LN - 60 W / sq. m .; GL - 75 W / sq. m; LL - 20 W / sq. m .; SL - 8 W / sq. m

The above standards are, of course, approximate. In addition, when calculating it is often necessary to take into account the fact that spotlights are rarely used for general lighting. A when calculating lighting local should be entered in the formula the size of the area of ​​only the area that should be illuminated.

In addition, we, of course, consider it an indispensable condition that the choice of the type and power of luminaires is purely our personal right. But it should be borne in mind that when choosing more powerful luminaires, their total number will be less, and this will negatively affect the uniformity of the light flux. Also, one should not be overly carried away by lamps with incandescent and halogen lamps - these are still sources of not only light but also heat.

We round the resulting number of fixtures to the nearest whole and select the most advantageous location on the installation surface - the ceiling, partition, panel, etc. There is complete freedom for creativity, the main thing is that the distribution is uniform.

You can arrange the lights in rows. It can be staggered. It is possible in the order of chaos - like a starry sky. If only the distance between them was approximately the same. If you are in doubt, you can consult a professional designer.

See more about this here: How to arrange spotlights on the ceiling

Installation of electrical wiring

The total number of fixtures, if it is in the tens, is better divided into separate groups. You can plan the lighting in such a way that each group will be turned on and off by a separate switch button.

To connect groups, you can use traditional junction boxes. From the box, cable lines lead to each lamp.

Spotlights are recessed, therefore designed for installation as part of a hidden electrical wiring. However, the classic way of laying cables for such wiring - laying in a shtroba - is practically not used for spotlights. Only the route to the switch and to the junction box has to be ditched.

Due to the fact that the spotlights themselves are mounted on hollow structures, there is simply no need to darn in order to bring a cable to them. In addition, the lamps are most often located on the ceiling, and it is extremely undesirable to shatter the ceiling.

Based on all this, we pull the cable to the lamps only in the corrugation. And if on the ceiling, then we fix this corrugation with the help of aluminum mounting strips or special plastic clips. And in hollow structures corrugated pipe can simply be thrown between the guide posts before sewing.

If our spotlights need 220 V power supply, then you can not be too smart with the choice of cable - VVGng 3 * 1.5 is suitable, which is usually chosen for household lighting circuits. The installation of cable wiring for such lamps does not have any practical differences from the traditional installation of lighting lines.

The following articles will describe the features of installing spotlights using electronic transformers, as well as how to properly install and connect spotlights.

Features of the installation of LED lights are discussed here: How to properly install and connect the LED lamp in the suspended ceiling

Alexander Molokov