LIGHTING: How To... Design your own lighting layout
Jan 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Stephen Blackman
Fixture flexibility The two most popular types of lighting fixtures used in retail stores are recessed and track lighting.
Recessed lighting fixtures - fixtures imbedded into a wall or ceiling - are good for throwing light while being unobtrusive, allowing them to blend in with a showroom's natural contours. Many options and variations are available when using recessed lighting, including different types of bulbs, reflectors and trim finishes.
A variety of mounting options exist to fit most architecture, from sloped ceilings to ceilings with shallow joists. Recessed lighting fixtures are available in very small to very large reflector apertures.
The second type of commonly used fixtures, track lighting heads, provide tremendous flexibility in angles and beam patterns. The ability to replace or reposition heads easily and quickly, or install a medley of bulbs that offer different aesthetics, energy options and sizes, exhibit the main advantage of track lighting: flexibility.
Track heads include general purpose heads that accept bulbs ranging from spots to floods. Wall wash heads are generally wider or deeper than most other general purpose heads in order to evenly illuminate large vertical areas, such as walls with hanging outfits.
Framing projector heads control the frame edge or focus of light beam to direct light only on an object and not on a background.
Low-voltage heads offer a minimal-sized unit that is very unobtrusive. Low-voltage track lighting uses halogen bulbs, which provide a sharper focus and a higher intensity of light in a smaller, controlled projection. They are not well suited to illuminate as large an area as the general purpose heads.
Finding the right bulb The type of bulb can be just as important as the type of fixture, and many lighting fixtures can accept more than one type of bulb. Bulbs fall into two main categories: incandescent and fluorescent.
Halogen lamps, which feature incandescent bulbs, are usually found in fixtures where a high-intensity light needs to be projected, as in a spot track head. Halogen lamps are also found where a high illumination level is needed for a work area, such as that provided by a task light. The only shortcoming of halogen lighting is its high operating temperature, which requires proper safety shielding for the bulb to protect the user from UV rays and lamp breakdowns.
Fluorescent bulbs tend to run cooler to the touch compared with incandescent. They have a longer life span and run more efficiently. They also come in a series of color temperatures - from warm to cool.
Fluorescent bulbs are starting to replace standard incandescent lamps in many applications. The small size and myriad shapes allow fluorescent bulbs to work in fixtures from task lights to table lamps to recessed fixtures. Fluorescent bulbs come in different types, giving the user a choice of wattage, length, lamp color and level of efficiency.
Time to design In designing your store, you need to decide which fixture types work with your lighting concept and what type of control features you might want for each area of the showroom. Set up your budget and venture out to a lighting showroom to see a preliminary choice of decorative and functional fixtures as well as control equipment. Take notes and either specify on your basic lighting plan the fixture to use, or ask your local showroom or lighting professional to help with the final fixture specifications.
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