Even in Spain, the summer is finally coming to an end. The temperatures start to drop and with the change to winter time, the days are getting shorter and you will have less natural light in your home. That’s just the way it is, but is there anything you can do about it? Well, there is little you can do about the time change and the loss of sunlight, but you can choose the interior layout of your apartment in a smart way and change the lighting of your home in order to make it brighter.
Before addressing the question, let’s look at some basic concepts: “The luminous flux is the power (W) emitted in the form of luminous radiation. For example, if we have two light bulbs, one of 25 W and another of 40 W, we see that the one of 40 W emits a more intense light than the other. When we speak of 25 or 40 watts, we are referring only to the power consumed by the bulb, of which only a part becomes visible light. The rest is heat or another type of energy,” says Pablo García, from Atrezo Arquitectos.
Another concept is luminance: “It is the apparent intensity of light that comes from or reflects a particular object or point. It is measured in a unit called lux, whose symbol is lx. This unit is derived from another called lumen, which measures luminous flux. An amount of illumination of 1 lux is equivalent to 1 lumen per square meter. That is to say, if a room is illuminated by a 1,000 lumen bulb, and the surface of the room is 10 square meters, the level of illumination will be 100 lux,” explains the architect.
To make it easier to understand, outdoors, a clear day has between 80,000 and 100,000 lux. A cloudy day (a typical autumn/winter day), approximately 3,000 lux. This refers to outdoor spaces. In interiors, in the kitchen for example, there are between 200 and 300 lx, “although in the work area, where the food is cut and prepared, it rises to 500 lx,” García explains.
Change the lighting in every room
In adult bedrooms not very high levels are recommended for general lighting, between 50 and 150 lx. “However, in the headboards of the beds spotlights with up to 500 lx are recommended, in order to be able to read. In the children’s rooms the general lighting should be brighter, about 150 lx, and about 300 lx if there is an area for activities and games.”
What lighting should you install in the living room? The general lighting can vary between 100 and 300 lx, although if you want to watch television you should reduce it to 50 lx and if you would like to read, just as in the bedroom, you should use a focal light of 500 lx.
Not too much lighting is needed in the bathroom, about 100 lx is enough, except in the mirror area, to shave, make up or comb your hair. We recommend 500 lx. In staircases, corridors and other passageways or areas of little use the ideal is a general lighting of 100 lx.
The most advisable thing, before buying light bulbs, is to measure the rooms with a luxmeter: “It is very advisable if you are going to make changes at home because it will allow you to see if the rooms are well lit or not, and you can buy a luxmeter for 25 euros. If we know the lux necessary to have it well illuminated, we can calculate the required lumens for each room and its surface. Por example imagine a kitchen of 10 sq. m. that we want to be illuminated with 300 lux at 80cm from the floor. That would mean 3,000 lumens. When we go to the catalogues, we will have to check on the lumens given by the luminaire and make sure that the sum adds up to 3,000.”
General recommendations for a well-lit home during winter time
- Buy a luxmeter and measure your rooms to see if you need more light. If so, follow the calculations we provided at the beginning of this article or call a professional to help you.
- Try to paint your walls and ceilings white, it is the only way that light can reflect part of its luminance. If they have dark colors, they will absorb the light and it will be lost. You can also opt for wallpaper with a white background and the motifs you like the most; the objective is to have the walls reflect the light.
- If you do renovation work and the regulations allow it, install windows with hidden hinges and a single leaf. If you have a 1 metre wide window, do not install a window with two leaves because the surface of the frame would take away part of the natural light.
- “Install a forged door with glass so that the light flows through your house. If you have a door in your entrance that leads to the kitchen or another dark room, consider installing a large iron door with glass that allows light to pass through. Aside from the fact that it will look beautiful, it will continue to serve as a separation of spaces,” explains Garcia.
- Install a translucent sliding door made of glass in the bathrooms. If your bathrooms receive natural light, try to take advantage of it.
Floor to ceiling door. “Don’t stop at 2 meters if your ceiling is 2.40m, let the door go all the way to the top. When you open them, the light that enters through them will be spectacular. In addition, you can install glasses that allow light to enter,” adds García.
Published first by idealista.com