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Where the mistakes are dangerous...
It is, I believe, undeniable that inadequate or inappropriate lighting is the most ... sure way of degrading any space in our home. It will eliminate important details, change the colors of carpets, tables and fabrics, create unwanted shadows, annoying shimmering and shades, etc ... in a nutshell, it will make everything that we spend on construction, furniture, equipment and decoration go!
In contrast, of course, with a well-designed and carefully designed lighting that highlights upgrades and makes our spaces attractive, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant "atmosphere".
But there are two spaces in each house where the impact of a wrong lighting has not only aesthetic consequences.
It is, I believe, undeniable that inadequate or inappropriate lighting is the most ... sure way of degrading any space in our home. It will eliminate important details, change the colors of carpets, tables and fabrics, create unwanted shadows, annoying shimmering and shades, etc ... in a nutshell, it will make everything that we spend on construction, furniture, equipment and decoration go!
In contrast, of course, with a well-designed and carefully designed lighting that highlights upgrades and makes our spaces attractive, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant "atmosphere".
But there are two spaces in each house where the impact of a wrong lighting has not only aesthetic consequences.
KITCHEN proper lighting has the primary role in the safety of ours!
I want to believe that there is no man who puts his needs for security to a second degree and under his aesthetic preferences...
In this article we will analyze the most important factors in kitchen lighting.
I want to believe that there is no man who puts his needs for security to a second degree and under his aesthetic preferences...
In this article we will analyze the most important factors in kitchen lighting.
KITCHEN
Kitchen is the most dangerous place in the home. Most home-grown accidents are happening inside. The use of cutting knives, gravel grinding, mixing of hot materials, opening of cans, can be dangerous activities under poor or inappropriate lighting.
The kitchen is a workspace and a high lighting requirement space.It must be illuminated like all workplaces. Not like a theater, a museum, a showcase, or a living room...Let the beauty, the atmosphere and the lighting effects for other spaces inside the house.
However, unfortunately, today with the prevalence of many people for spot lighting, many people are unknowingly exposed to serious dangers, driven by either "fashion" or minimalism, or by various kitchen furniture manufacturers incorporating in their furniture to make their product more impressive and more attractive to our eyes. And, of course, few make the effort to make the simple idea that whoever makes kitchens is expert there (in kitchen furniture and not in lighting !!!)
Spots are generally a dangerous luminaire in the kitchen! Spots means lighting "a spot" and the kitchen does not require spot lighting but uniform general and local (bench) lighting. The spots are conical illumination beams (range up to 60 ° maximum), and no matter how close-dense they are placed on the roof, they create areas with more and less light (brightness differences with a huge deviation of 100 to 3000 lux within a few centimeters!).
Because light is invisible (it is only perceived as it strikes somewhere and is reflected), these brightness differences seem like illuminations "spots" on the floor. But they are not only on the floor, but all over the place, and even stronger in our eye-level, and that puts our eyes in a constant stress of abrupt adjustments (the pupil of the eya constantly closes). During these adjustments we have "pauses" in vision and we do not see details and you can understand what can mean frequent pauses in vision and what can happen when we cut with a knife or rub on a grater or move something hot..
Perhaps the only exception for limited use of spots (and only there) is the presence of a parapet towards the central dining room.
As mentioned above, the kitchen requires an ample and uniform general lighting and horizontal and vertical. The recommended level is 250-300 lux (how many watts are needed to achieve these lux is a function of many factors). The most suitable solutions are in professional direct lighting systems with fluorescent lamps, or in at least two direct or indirect high intensity lighting lamps with iodine lamps (save energy for lower power consumption).
General lighting, among other things, should also help to see inside the cabinets and the vertical surfaces of electrical appliances. If you have the belief that the fluorescence creates a cold atmosphere, you should know that there are fluorescent lamps (or even with the Led bulbs defined by degrees Kelvin) with a warm tinge that resembles that of the iodine lamps.
There is another specificity. In the kitchen we usually work peripherally.The classic pendant luminaire in the middle of the room is not enough (despite how strong it is) because it will always be behind us and our shadow will fall on every activity we try on the workbenches (We will create brightness differences with our own body!).
Kitchen is the most dangerous place in the home. Most home-grown accidents are happening inside. The use of cutting knives, gravel grinding, mixing of hot materials, opening of cans, can be dangerous activities under poor or inappropriate lighting.
The kitchen is a workspace and a high lighting requirement space.It must be illuminated like all workplaces. Not like a theater, a museum, a showcase, or a living room...Let the beauty, the atmosphere and the lighting effects for other spaces inside the house.
However, unfortunately, today with the prevalence of many people for spot lighting, many people are unknowingly exposed to serious dangers, driven by either "fashion" or minimalism, or by various kitchen furniture manufacturers incorporating in their furniture to make their product more impressive and more attractive to our eyes. And, of course, few make the effort to make the simple idea that whoever makes kitchens is expert there (in kitchen furniture and not in lighting !!!)
Spots are generally a dangerous luminaire in the kitchen! Spots means lighting "a spot" and the kitchen does not require spot lighting but uniform general and local (bench) lighting. The spots are conical illumination beams (range up to 60 ° maximum), and no matter how close-dense they are placed on the roof, they create areas with more and less light (brightness differences with a huge deviation of 100 to 3000 lux within a few centimeters!).
Because light is invisible (it is only perceived as it strikes somewhere and is reflected), these brightness differences seem like illuminations "spots" on the floor. But they are not only on the floor, but all over the place, and even stronger in our eye-level, and that puts our eyes in a constant stress of abrupt adjustments (the pupil of the eya constantly closes). During these adjustments we have "pauses" in vision and we do not see details and you can understand what can mean frequent pauses in vision and what can happen when we cut with a knife or rub on a grater or move something hot..
Perhaps the only exception for limited use of spots (and only there) is the presence of a parapet towards the central dining room.
As mentioned above, the kitchen requires an ample and uniform general lighting and horizontal and vertical. The recommended level is 250-300 lux (how many watts are needed to achieve these lux is a function of many factors). The most suitable solutions are in professional direct lighting systems with fluorescent lamps, or in at least two direct or indirect high intensity lighting lamps with iodine lamps (save energy for lower power consumption).
General lighting, among other things, should also help to see inside the cabinets and the vertical surfaces of electrical appliances. If you have the belief that the fluorescence creates a cold atmosphere, you should know that there are fluorescent lamps (or even with the Led bulbs defined by degrees Kelvin) with a warm tinge that resembles that of the iodine lamps.
There is another specificity. In the kitchen we usually work peripherally.The classic pendant luminaire in the middle of the room is not enough (despite how strong it is) because it will always be behind us and our shadow will fall on every activity we try on the workbenches (We will create brightness differences with our own body!).
There is also sufficient local lighting, above workbenches. The recommended level is 300-500 lux, can easily be achieved with fluorescent or linestra lamps usually under the cabinets or even the corresponding lighting fixtures with LED lighting technology.
Lighting also needs over the sink for proper washing of vegetables, dishes, utensils, etc.
If the kitchen includes a daily dining room it is good to have a pendant lamp above the table. Remember that kitchen often becomes the place most often used, the unofficial center of a home and requires a proper "atmosphere".
Note also that good daytime lighting is an advantage only when there is good artificial lighting to balance the excessive brightness of the sun coming out of the windows.
Finally, the cost required for the proper lighting of your kitchen should be estimated at around 15% of its total cost.
In the end, it is not reasonable to try to illuminate elegant furniture made of lacquer or designer formulas, expensive granites or marbles, and state-of-the-art appliances with..."low quality" lighting...
Lighting also needs over the sink for proper washing of vegetables, dishes, utensils, etc.
If the kitchen includes a daily dining room it is good to have a pendant lamp above the table. Remember that kitchen often becomes the place most often used, the unofficial center of a home and requires a proper "atmosphere".
Note also that good daytime lighting is an advantage only when there is good artificial lighting to balance the excessive brightness of the sun coming out of the windows.
Finally, the cost required for the proper lighting of your kitchen should be estimated at around 15% of its total cost.
In the end, it is not reasonable to try to illuminate elegant furniture made of lacquer or designer formulas, expensive granites or marbles, and state-of-the-art appliances with..."low quality" lighting...
The main idea of the article was first published in 1997 by Costas Mathios in the KATOIKIA magazine.
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