All About Lighting
Lighting can make a big difference in how you feel about your home. It helps you perform tasks more easily, makes you feel safer and more comfortable, and allows you to enjoy your home to its full potential. Lighting adds beauty and drama to a room. It can make a small room look open and airy, and large rooms appear cozy and inviting. It can create a stimulating atmosphere for a night of entertaining, or a quiet feeling of relaxation after a long, tiring day. In so many ways, lighting can make a difference. And, it does so inexpensively compared to other home decoration or remodeling options. 
Lighting should be planned to complement your lifestyle. So, first you need to develop a home lighting plan that suits your individual needs and those of your family. When planning your lighting, look at the activities that occur in each room, the atmosphere you want to create and the decorative elements you wish to emphasize. Keep in mind that light can be absorbed and even wasted in dark-colored rooms, or reflected and used as additional illumination in light-colored rooms. Also, take note of those areas serving more than a single purpose and those that will require more than one type of lighting.
The fundamentals
There are three basic types of lighting that work together to light your home: General, Task and Accent . A good lighting plan combines all three types to light an area, according to function and style
Lighting controls
give you the flexibility to design a lighting plan with multiple uses and decorative effects. With the touch of a button, today's sophisticated dimming systems enable you to:
- Lower light level to conserve energy and increase bulb life.
- Vary the mood of a room.
- Alter the intensity of the light to suit the activity.
Create and save a number of different lighting scenes in each room.
Lighting controls should be an integral part of the lighting design of each room.
Types of Controls:
1. Integrated dimming systems allow you to create multiple preset lighting scenes within a room. Scenes can be recalled with the touch of a button from a single wall box or with hand held wireless remote controls.
2. Touch dimmers allow you to vary the intensity of the lighting while depressing a button. These systems permit one-touch recall of the previous lighting level. Some are equipped with indicator lights that provide a continual readout of the lighting intensity.
3. Slide dimmers provide full-range, manual dimming control. Some are equipped with a touch-button that allows you to return to the previous lighting level. Others have an indicator light that glows in the dark for easy location.
4. Rotary dimmers provide full-range, manual dimming control. Some are equipped with a push-button operation that allows you to turn the light on and off and return to the previous lighting level.
A pleasant working environment stimulates personnel to increase their performance, in terms of both quality and throughput. Good lighting contributes to this area by being a functional facility, with the task of ensuring good visibility in the working environment. Good light makes work safer and less tiring, resulting in fewer accidents, lower fault and reject levels and higher productivity. It also plays an emotional role in determining how people experience and appreciate the environment in which they work. Good lighting pays for itself.
High-quality, industrial lighting makes an important and positive contribution and hence improves productivity. Quality lighting means enough light on the working area, higher uniformity and suitable colour properties. Lighting also should be in such a way that it does not give any glare. Every industry will also have some outdoor area, which needs good lighting. Lighting for typical applications is related to the activity taking place and its size.
Office lighting plays a key role in creating a working environment that empowers people to function to the very best of their abilities. Lighting contributes to the principal needs such as performance, comfort, ambiance and cost effectiveness. Productivity of the company rests on the capacity of the individual employees to work effectively; therefore offices today are designed to optimize performance. Lighting contributes to the physical comfort of the employees promoting a sense of well-being, safety and alertness. Lighting control is becoming increasingly important to offer flexibility and energy management. In the changing world, energy efficiency and conservation and green lighting concepts are becoming popular and getting adapted faster. Philips has innovated many state-of-the-art products that support energy efficiency and minimize the impact on the environment.
Offices differ from one another in terms of structure and organization and so do the requirements of lighting. Office lighting requirements differs between an open plan concept, closed room approach, meeting halls, lobbies, utilities, etc. Lighting control is becoming increasingly important to offer flexibility and energy management.
Every shop has a different image to convey and different products to sell. Each aspect of a shop should be carefully designed with its clientele in mind. Shops also carry their own identity. Lighting supports a shop in its identity, shows off the shop's merchandise to its best advantage, serving as a true magnet, drawing customers into the shop and persuading them to buy. A good lighting effect and system attract customers, inspire them to enter the shop, provide visual comfort and draw them towards the products to buy . 
Lighting also guides and orientates people within a shop, directing their attention to a visual interest, highlighting details and workmanship and quality of materials, and finally stimulating the customer to make a purchase. Good and effective Lighting for shops can only be designed based on the type of shop and its profile and desired image.
A hotel is often chosen based on its image, comfort, facilities, location, star rating, cost etc. A hotel offers its guests a broad spectrum of lodging experiences. Every area of the hotel is carefully designed with its image and clientele in mind. Lighting plays a vital role in hotels due to its vast offering. Lighting enhances identity and image of a hotel.
Lighting not only provides comfort and safety to customers but also used to guide and orientate people, highlighting details and enhancing functional aspects, and finally impressing the customer to stay and/or come back
Starting from the external decorative lighting which stresses the location of the hotel or the catchy signs which grab the attention of a roadside driver, up to the classic lounge all shining or the economic check-in counter, the exclusive international cuisine or the simple fast food in the coffee house. The list expands to the perfect gymnasium, recreational and business facilities, etc., and so does the variety of lighting requirements
Museums, Parks, Cinemas, Restaurants all require a specific lighting solution that ceates the effect to suit the environment, to portray a distinctive image and to enhance the experience for their visitors and/or customers. UV free * luminaires, dimmable systems and maintainence free lightings all point to one direction - LED.
* Negligable UV. However, LED produces a certain level of Light Energy that may cause certain surfaces / materials to fade and/or discolor. This is applicable only to direct exposure.
