HOME LIGHTING

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27566, 25 January 1955, Page 12

HOME LIGHTING

IMPORTANCE OF TYPE AND PLACING

LECTURE AT HOME SCIENCE COURSE “The Press” Special Service DUNEDIN, January 24. Home science alumnae and members of the public were recently told where lights should be placed in the home, and advised on the various types of lighting which were most suitable in each room. The occasion was a lecture, as part of the home science refresher cdurse being held by the University of Otago, by Mr S. C. Mac Diarmid, a lighting expert from Wellington. Mr McDiarmid said that lighting in the home had two main functions: to enable particular visual tasks to be performed with ease and comfort and facilitate safe movement throughout the house; and to provide an appropriate atmosphere and—if required—to contribute to the decorative plan. The problem, he said, should be considered under the headings: adequacy or quantity, suitability or quality, glare and colour. He explained the different kinds of lighting necessary for various household tasks—even dispersed light for food preparation, strong directed light on sewing and reading, and a low level of lighting for relaxation.

“One of the greatest lighting mistakes, repeated again and again in new houses, is the practice of using one light only—generally in the centre of the room,” said Mr Mac Diarmid. “One should always think of what must be seen and what must be done in any particular room and take steps to ensure that each of these activities is lighted adequately and suitably.” He said that fluorescent lamps today need not distort colour, but that coloured shades on lights had to be used with the utmost care if distortion of other colours in the room was to be avoided. In kitchens and bathrooms where a high level of illumination was required the fluorescent lamp was particularly successful.

Mr Mac Diarmid emphasised that lighting on stairways should be from the head of the stairway in preference to the lower floor, as this eliminated glare and gave the most satisfactory illumination to the treads. Summarising, Mr Mac Diarmid said that adequate lighting could only be achieved if the following requirements were met—adequate illumination, even brightness of walls and ceilings, elimination of shadows on work and elimination of glare.