Unilux

What are the fixture types?

Recessed light: : the protective housing is concealed behind a ceiling or wall, leaving only the fixture itself exposed. The ceiling-mounted version is often called a downlight.
Troffer light: : recessed fluorescent lights (the word comes from the combination of trough and coffer).
Cove light: : recessed into the ceiling in a long box against a wall.
Chandelier light fixture: : decorative and suspended from ceiling.
Surface-mounted light: : the finished housing is exposed, not flush with surface.
Pendant light: : suspended from the ceiling with a chain or pipe.
Sconce: : provide up or down lights; can be used to illuminate artwork, architectural details; commonly used in hallways or as an alternative to overhead lighting.
Track lighting fixture: : individual fixtures (“track heads”) can be positioned anywhere along the track, which provides electric power.
Ceiling fan: : may sometimes have a light, often referred to as a light kit mounted to it.
Emergency lighting or exit light: : connected to a battery backup or to an electric circuit that has emergency power if the main power fails.
Strip lights or industrial lighting: : long lines of fluorescent lamps used in a warehouse or factory.
Outdoor lighting and landscape lighting: : used to illuminate walkways, parking lots, roadways, building exteriors, architectural details, gardens and parks.
Pole or stanchion-mounted: : for landscape, roadways and parking lots.
Pathway lighting: : typically mounted in the ground at low levels for illuminating walkways.
Bollard: : a type of architectural outdoor lighting that is a short, upright ground-mounted unit typically used to provide cutoff type illumination for egress lighting, to light walkways, steps, or other pathways.
Sign light: : used to light building signs or walls.
UNILUX SAL can provide you with any of these lighting fittings.

What are the lamp types that we mostly use?

Incandescent filament lamps

Filament lamps are used mainly for domestic and display lighting. There are many types of filament lamps, the most common being general lighting service (GLS) and Decorative. Their finish – clear, diffuse/pearl or colored – is a significant factor in their application. Reflector lamps are similar but have an envelope with an internal reflective coating. Advantages of filament lamps include low initial cost, simple operation (no control gear required) and good color rendering. Disadvantages of filament lamps are low efficiency (measure of the energy efficiency of a light source, i.e. lumens per watt) and a relatively short life. Certain extended life filament lamps have only about half the efficacy of standard lamps. The light output of filament lamps is particularly sensitive to voltage variations.

Halogen-filled filament lamps (tungsten halogen)

The main reason for filling a tungsten filament lamp with halogen gas is to prevent evaporated tungsten from blackening the envelope. Tungsten halogen lamps also have an increased light output and/or an extended life compared with standard filament lamps. The envelope is of small dimensions and made of quartz or hard glass. Some mains voltage lamps have an outer protective envelope. Lamps that are suitable for use in luminaries without a safety screen should be so marked. Otherwise, tungsten halogen lamps should only be used in suitably enclosed luminaries. Extra low voltage (ELV) lamps are, in general, more compact than their mains voltage counterparts and the small filament size can improve the optical efficiency of integral or external reflectors.

Compact fluorescent lamps

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) has the characteristics and advantages of linear fluorescent lamps but its compact size is achieved by folding the discharge path, retaining high efficacy. The two main groups of CFLs are those with external control gear and those with internal control gear. High frequency control gear is now available integrated into the CFL holder, making lamp conversion from GLS to CFL very simple. Many modern fluorescent lamps are operated at high frequency (typically at or above 30 kHz), which results in a reduction of energy losses both in the lamp and the control gear. The control gear size and weight are often less, the efficacy higher, dimming where required is easier, and operation is silent.

Metal halide discharge lamps

Metal halide lamps have quartz or sintered alumina (ceramic) arc tubes, generally with an outer glass envelope. Light output is from mercury and other metallic elements introduced in the form of halides. Metal halide lamps of the “protected” type are now available for operation in luminaries without safety screens. According to the mix of elements, there is a wide range of efficacy and/or color appearance, but color rendering is generally good. Metal halide lamps are generally used in commercial interiors, industry and floodlighting, and (in smaller ratings) for retail lighting.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs)

Light emitting diodes have been used for indicating purposes for several decades and recent developments have created larger diodes and extended the range of colors including white. A dramatic increase in efficacy is predicted in the near future. LEDs have an extremely long life and are likely to be built into the luminaire and will not be a consumable item as far as the end user is concerned.

What kind of lighting design do we provide?

Lighting design as it applies to the built environment, also known as “architectural lighting design,” is both a science and an art. Lighting of structures must consider aesthetic elements as well as practical considerations of quantity of light required, occupants of the structure, energy efficiency and cost. The amount of daylight received in an internal space can be analyzed by undertaking a daylight factor calculation. For simple installations, hand-calculations based on tabular data can be used to provide an acceptable lighting design. More critical or optimized designs now routinely use mathematical modeling on a computer using software such as Radiance that can allow an architect to quickly undertake complex calculations to review the benefit of a particular design. In some design instances, materials used on walls and furniture play a key role in the lighting effect. Dark paint tends to absorb light, making the room appear smaller and dimmer than it is, whereas light paint does the opposite. In addition to paint, reflective surfaces also have an effect on lighting design. Surfaces or floors that are too reflective create unwanted glare.

How can I be sure that there is enough light in my space?

You can let us do the photometric studies of this space. Photometric studies (also referred to as “layouts” or “point by points”) are often used to simulate lighting designs for projects before they are built or renovated. This enables architects, lighting designers and engineers to determine whether a proposed lighting setup will deliver the amount of light intended. They will also be able to determine the contrast ratio between light and dark areas. In many cases these studies are referenced against IESNA or CIBSE recommended lighting practices for the type of application. Depending on the type of area, different design aspects may be emphasized for safety or practicality (such as maintaining uniform light levels, avoiding glare or highlighting certain areas). Specialized software is often used to create these, which typically combine the use of two-dimensional digital CAD drawings and lighting calculation software (i.e. AGi32 or Dialux).

What are the color properties of the light?

To define light source color properties, the lighting industry predominantly relies on two metrics, correlated color temperature (CCT), commonly used as an indication of the apparent “warmth” or “coolness” of the light emitted by a source, and color rendering index (CRI), an indication of the light source’s ability to make objects appear natural. However, these two metrics, developed in the last century, are facing increased challenges and criticisms as new types of light sources, particularly light emitting diodes (LEDs), become more prevalent in the market. For example, in order to meet the expectations for good color rendering in retail applications, it’s best to use the well-established CRI along with another metric called gamut area index (GAI). GAI represents the relative separation of object colors illuminated by a light source; the greater the GAI, the greater the apparent saturation or vividness of the object colors. As a result, light sources that balance both CRI and GAI are generally preferred over ones that have only high CRI or only high GAI.

How can we reduce our energy consumption?

1-How can we reduce our energy consumption?
2-Analyze lighting quality to ensure that adverse components of lighting (for example, glare or incorrect color spectrum) are not biasing the design.
3-Integrate space planning and interior architecture (including choice of interior surfaces and room geometries) with lighting design.
4-Design of time of day use that does not expend unnecessary energy.
5-Select fixture and lamp types that reflect best available technology for energy conservation.
6-Maintain lighting systems to minimize energy wastage.

What is the “automated lighting control”?

Building automation and lighting control solutions are now available to help reduce energy usage and cost by eliminating over-illumination. These solutions provide centralized control of all lighting within a home or commercial building, allowing easy implementation of scheduling, occupancy control, daylight harvesting and more.
Many systems also support demand response (DR) and will automatically dim or turn off lights to take advantage of DR incentives and cost savings. Occupancy sensors react whenever someone is within the area being scanned. When motion can no longer be detected, the lights shut off.
Passive infrared sensors react to changes in heat, such as the pattern created by a moving person. The control must have an unobstructed view of the building area being scanned. Doors, partitions, stairways, etc. will block motion detection and reduce its effectiveness.

What is EIB/KNX?

To answer to the home automation growing needs, industrials started to develop systems in the early 70’s, and nowadays, home automation systems are widely available. Despite the strong disparities among cultures and installation standards, the KNX protocol was successfully normalized on a global scale to constitute a “worldwide standard for home control”. This protocol synthesizes the available solutions for home automation, providing HVAC, lighting and energy control for the residential market.

The differences between a simple system of home automation and KNX are:
KNX can cover all kinds of automatisms.
KNX can adapt to existing installations.
KNX will be future-proof or even propose a vision for unifying the automatism concept.
KNX be easily understandable by installers.

What are the KNX products?

The KNX Association member companies have almost 7,000 KNX certified product groups in their catalogues. This wide range of products allows, for example, the integration of: lighting control, heating/ventilation and air conditioning control, shutter/blind and shading control, alarm monitoring, energy management and electricity/gas/water metering, audio and video distribution. On top of that you can enable access to the system via LAN, analog or mobile phone networks for having a central or distributed control of the system via laptops, tablets and smartphones.