LIGHTING CONTROL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 4

LIGHTING CONTROL

FURTHER RESTRICTIONS TO BE ENFORCED DOMINION STANDARD FOR SHOP ILLUMINATION i Reports in the hands of the Do- ! minion Lighting Controller, Mr F. T. M. Kissel, from shipping round the New Zealand coasts indicate very clear- j ly that sky-glow above cities is still ; visible far out to sea. Reduction in j street lighting, the elimination of col- | ou.ed signs, and a small dimunition in ; shop-window lighting have reduced the sky-glow to appreciably less than it was, but it is still considered by the , authorities to be too great, and the Do- j minion controller has issued instruc- | tions which will further affect the j more intensive types of lighting. | In issuing his instructions, the con- , troller has brought down a Dominion ; standard for shop lighting. There has j ir. the past necessarily been a diver- j gence of views, as between one city ! and another, as to how much light j was permissible. The intensity of j light permitted in a shop window in Wellington will in future oe similar to that permitted in a shop window in Auckland or Dunedin. This Dominion standard calls for the following requirements:— All interior shop window light sources must be shielded by a pelmet or screen or opaque material or paint, so that the light source cannot be seen from any position in the street, and so that direct light from the sources is confined to the interior of the window. The brightness of the window interior is to be such that the value of the \ | reflected light as measured in the | street on a vertical plane 4ft above street level and at a distance of 6ft | from the window line, does not exceed j one-tenth of a foot candle. As mea- j surement in foot-candles cannot readily i be made by shop owners, as a general direction this level will be reached by the use of 5 watts a foot run of win-! dow frontage. Thus, if a window frontage is 10 feet, the use of two 25 watt lamps would be correct. It is pointed out in the regulations' that, vhatever the frontage, no lamp i larger than 60 watt is to be used. In j all cases the light source is to be be- j hind an opaque pelmet. No light will j be permitted which shines below this j pelmet. This automatically rules out j many of the lights at present hanging on pendant cords. UNDER-VERANDA REFLECTORS BARRED In a notice published in March, lights in shop entrances shining direct- ! ly on the footpath were prohibited. In ! the present regulations, all lights in; porch entrances, and under verandas are to cease to burn after sunset, as the use of them would detract from the value of the window regulations. Thus, no reflectors, mounted under verandas, w'ith the light directed on to j the shop window may not be used. Certain shops, or classes of business. ; are so arranged as to be open to the ; footpath and street, and to be intensely j lit inside. In such cases, the interior ! lighting must be reduced, or screens | placed between the lights and the en- J trance, or baffles placed in the entrance so that the net amount of light falling j on the footpath outside does not exceed j the permitted standard. The regulations will apply to all classes of business, entertainment, and j so on, and will become effective as from Monday. 26th May. The Wellington City Council has J already reduced the street lighting in j the business area, and in the suburbs j quite considerably, and has screened all j street lights directly visible from the sea, but further reduction is now to take place. The department has already started with special fittings for , those street lights r.ot directly visible | from the open sea, so designed that no | light can go directly skyward. The new regulations apply, not only j to the city proper, but to all parts of the suburbs as well. A shop in Karori or Ngaio is subject to the new regula- j ! lion just the same as a shop in Lamb- i i ton Quay. CITIZENS CAN ASSIST i Citizens in general can assist toward ‘ the solution of the sky glow problem. 11 No order has yet been issued regarding • private houses in areas not directly [ visible from the open sea, to control , their lights in any way, but the local i Controller suggests seriously that much ’ might now be done without any such I order. Thousands of people sit at night i w :h blinds not drawn. Some light • i falls outside the window. Some of this !! i s reflected upward and helps toward i sky-glow. Such people might now well II develop the habit of drawing their i j blinds because there is every indicai' tion that the private house problem ! I will have to be tackled if the present 1 ! provisions are not sufficient. ! In connection with the turning out of lights, the orders in general use the ■ | term “sunset.” Sunset is now about I! 5.15 p.m. and neons should be turned lioff at that hour or even 5 p.m., as > the sun will set earlier up till near the ! end of June. The local Controller, whose patrol of the city has not so far ! commenced before 6 p.m., has now ar- ; ranged for a patrol between 5 and 6 p.m., so that users of neons would be well advised to turn them off at , sunset.