The yard of each apartment building in the city requires good lighting. Should not be dark in the settlements, large and small, of course, streets, avenues and squares. A lighting plan for any object in the city should be drawn up, of course, with the exact observance of various kinds of standards. In Russia, the conduct of such work is mainly regulated by three documents: GOST, SNiP and PUE.
Floor plan
Engaged in the design of lighting of multi-storey buildings in Russia, of course, qualified specialists. It can be engineers of the company that erects the building, or invited workers from another licensed company.
In any case, specialists usually draw up a plan for lighting a house in stages:
- study a design project for floor sketches and drawings of the house;
- calculate possible loads on the power grid;
- think over ways of laying cables;
- select the equipment necessary for safe and uninterrupted operation of the network.
At the final stage, engineers usually choose the location of the shields or design a centralized control system.
Load calculation
This indicator when drawing up a plan of the building lighting network is determined by the demand coefficient method. The following formula is used:
Here n is the number of lamps used, P is the power of the lamps selected for lighting, K is the coefficient. load demand, a is the loss coefficient in ballasts, tgφ is the reactive power factor of the lamps. The last indicator for incandescent bulbs is 0, for DRL - 0.33.
Cable routing
In multi-storey residential buildings, wiring today extends, of course, almost always in a hidden way. That is, power cables are laid for lighting devices inside walls and ceilings. To do this, at the stage of construction work, special channels called gates are laid on the surface of the building envelope.
According to the rules of the PUE, in the thickness of concrete and brick walls, in the event that plaster is subsequently used to finish them, cables can be pulled directly - without additional protection. But in our time, wires in gates are usually laid nevertheless in special fireproof tubes called corrugations. This installation method allows you to subsequently change the damaged cable without removing the final finish of the wall and plaster.
Sometimes the wires in the walls during the construction of high-rise buildings, installers pull without corrugation. This method of laying, however, is allowed to be used only when the layer of finishing plaster in the future will be at least 1 cm.
Rules for the selection of equipment
Lamps for lighting multi-storey buildings may be used as fluorescent, incandescent or LED. At the same time, such equipment should be selected correctly primarily in terms of power. According to the regulations, the illumination of the entrances in residential buildings should be at least 10 Lx when using fluorescent and LED equipment and 5 Lx when using incandescent bulbs.
Also, according to the rules of the PUE, the power for lighting the basements is supposed to be reduced to 42 V, since there is always a lot of moisture.
Courtyard lighting
When equipping the territory of a multi-story building, installers must, among other things, adhere to the following rules:
- at the exit of each entrance, it is supposed to install a lamp with a capacity of at least 6 Lux;
- paths in the yard should be lit at least 4 Lux;
- for household construction, this provides 2 Lx.
City Lighting Design
The streets and squares of various kinds of settlements should, of course, also be improved in terms of lighting in accordance with all the rules. Designing the city’s electric grid is actually a very difficult task. Coverage in settlements, in addition to roads and squares:
- parks and squares;
- shop windows;
- monuments of architecture;
- building facades, etc.
The actual plan for lighting cities is also drawn up in several stages. Engineers:
- calculate the necessary equipment parameters;
- think over a plan for laying cables and wires, taking into account safety requirements for the population;
- create a design project so that after installation of equipment the streets of the city look aesthetically pleasing;
- determined with what architectural objects will be illuminated.
Legend
When designing, specialists, among other things, mark all objects and equipment on the street lighting scheme. Symbols in such drawings may be used differently. Unfortunately, there are no single icons in modern documents, for example, for support of lamps, lamps, etc. The lighting scheme may look, for example, as follows.
Equipment
Lamps for city lighting are selected taking into account the following requirements:
- horizontal illumination of children’s and sports grounds in the microdistrict should be at least 10 Lux;
- transport and pedestrian tunnels can only be lit with discharge lamps;
- Lighting of streets of categories A and B with a traffic intensity of more than 2000 units per hour, as well as highly dusty roads, is supposed to be done using 1P53.
If, according to the standards, the street should be lit by at least 4 Lux, it’s supposed to choose lamps with such an optical system that would ensure wide or at least half-wide light distribution. It can be either console LED lamps, or gas-discharge or with incandescent lamps. The main thing is that such equipment provides coverage of a large area.
For walkways, walkways, entrances to parks, stadiums, gardens, etc., it is recommended to use equipment primarily in direct or ambient light.
Rules for placing fixtures
Lamps on the streets when illuminating the city are placed taking into account the following requirements:
- on streets with tram and trolleybus traffic, lamps are placed on the supports of the contact network;
- on streets with an overhead public electricity network on the poles of this network.
Cantilever lamps, according to the regulations, in cities are installed at an angle of 15 degrees.
When designing a street lighting project, engineers take into account, for example, the fact that the supports for the luminaires, according to the standards, are supposed to be installed at least 0.6 m from the curb stones. On roads without tram, heavy and trolleybus traffic, this distance may be halved. At intersections and adjoining streets, pillars should be placed closer than 1.5 m before the curving of the sidewalks begins. On alleys and sidewalks, supports are supposed to be placed outside the pedestrian zone.
In addition to everything else, when arranging streets, according to the rules of the EMP, it is necessary to ground the street lighting poles. This will protect people walking on the sidewalks or driving on the highway from electric shock.
There are many other rules for the selection and installation of lighting equipment for settlements. In any case, cities, towns, etc., should be illuminated in such a way that the people living in them are provided with maximum comfort.
Design for a country house
Lighting plans for multi-story residential buildings, streets and squares, therefore, are exclusively licensed specialists. For a country house, such a project, of course, can be developed independently. Such strict requirements as for urban buildings, in this case, of course, are not provided. However, you still need to develop a project for lighting a country house in compliance with certain rules.
Entering wiring in a private low-rise residential building, according to the standards, can be carried out either by cable or by air. Inside the walls of private panel houses, wires are pulled in plastic fireproof corrugations. In the same way, cables are pulled in strobes of brick and concrete enclosing structures of low-rise residential buildings. In wooden houses, wiring is laid in special fire-resistant decorative boxes over the plane of the walls.
Of course, some rules should be observed when lighting courtyards of country houses. Moving around the house territory at night should be safe in the first place. It is believed that in a suburban low-rise building, it is necessary to highlight:
- porch;
- the path from the gate to the door.
A very good solution would be to illuminate the main garden paths, as well as the entrances to the summer kitchen, bathhouse and various outbuildings in the courtyard of the country house. Near the pool, putting lights is also worth it. Otherwise, someone might fall into it at night. It is believed that it is best to use LED spotlights in country houses for the street. Thus, you can save a lot of money on electricity.