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Light Meters and Selection of Sun Tunnel Skylight

Mark Holencik — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:06:00 GMT

How would you know which suntunnel to select for your place? Tubular skylights come in various sizes and lengths, and its selection depends on the light conditions of the room. It is difficult to make judgments regarding the light level in a room with the human eye alone, as the eyes adapt very quickly. The accurate method is to measure the light at any place with the help of a Light meter.

A light meter is a portable photoelectric device that measures the energy of the light and its brightness at a given point and area. The amount of light measured at a given place is called Luminance. It is measured in foot candles or lux, in metric SI system. A foot candle is the brightness of the light, one foot away from the source and lux is the total luminous flux over a defined area. One foot candle is roughly equivalent to ten lux. Another measuring unit, Lumens, is the amount of one foot candle falling on one square foot of area. Lighting bulbs are measured in lumens, for example, a 60-Watt bulb would give out 700 lumens or 120 lux of light. Comparatively, the natural light has an energy content of about 9W per 1000 lumen.

In other words, one lux is one lumen over one square meter area and one footcandle is one lumen per square foot. According to a study, 30 to 50 footcandles is sufficient for most home or office work, which would be about 300-500 lux. A bathroom may require a minimum of 80 lux and the area under the staircase or in the corridors about 40 lux, whereas on a clear day the outdoor light level can be 10,000 lux.

To find the size of a tubular skylight required, you need to know the luminance of the area, with the help of a light meter. Compare the averaged resultant lux reading of the meter with the typical lux requirements of an area, which varies according to the type of work, as defined by the company. If the luminance falls below the required level, then look for a skylight, which has a lux level sufficient to fill up the deficient amount of light, considering that the intensity of light in a suntunnel varies with the time of year and on cloudy days, as the angle of sun changes. If the area is large then you may need more than one suntunnel. Generally, for optimum natural light, the daylight area should be minimum 10% of the floor area, which would be averaging about 30 lux.

A 14”/350mm diameter rigid and flexible tubular skylight would deliver daylight of 6500 lumens and 2100 lumens respectively, during summers. A 10”/250mm rigid suntunnel delivers about 220 lux of light level on a sunny day, which surpasses the light produced by a 150 Watt bulb. With such a variety available, you will only be able to make the right choice if you knew the amount of light available in the desired area, and a light meter helps to do just that.

Advantages and Types of Commercial Skylights

Mark Holencik — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Daylighting has been the primary source of light, until the industrial revolution. Since then, we have become dependent on artificial ways of lighting our residences or workplaces. The trend of harvesting daylighting is making resurgence as it is beneficial for our health, helps to lessen overhead costs and contributes to reduction of energy consumption.

Use of commercial skylights in schools, hospitals, offices and industrial places after being studied by technical experts, is reported to have positive and significant impact on the performance of people correlated to their work. According to the experts, natural light boosts the energy up to 24 percent in any person, which increases activeness and hence their productivity. It decreases the absenteeism of employees, indicating that they like the working environment lit by natural light.

People use various types of skylights to get sunlight into a commercial space, like venting and fixed skylight windows on the roof. The most economical of all these skylights are the tubular skylights, which efficiently, light up the workplace and add to its beauty. Architects use this type of skylights on flat or sloped roofs. Tubular skylights are designed to integrate easily with a suspended ceiling. They are made of rigid tube, which have a highly reflective inner surface. The tubular skylights have a special telescopic design that helps to carry the sunlight to greater lengths and to areas not under direct access by using bends, thus minimizing any loss of light. They effectively distribute the sunlight by letting it pass through a prismatic diffuser.

The commercial tubular skylights are available in various sizes. Generally, tubes of 21-inch size are used for larger workplaces, and one such tubular skylight would light up an area of 600 square feet, delivering up to 1,400 watts of light. The commercial tubular skylights are leak proof and can withstand strong winds. It has a UV protection feature and a condensation system, to keep the moisture out of the place. Quality aluminum flashing is used to fit the tubular skylight on any type of roof.

Daylighting experts can help to find out the number of skylights that would be required to attain the maximum benefit by saving energy and to achieve the necessary level of lighting. Proper design and implementation of commercial tubular skylights help us switch off the artificial lighting on an average of 70% to 80% of the time. The use of these healthy, energy saving skylights is common in green friendly office and commercial buildings.

Tubular Skylight - Amount of Light from Rigid Tube Compared to Flexible Tube

Mark Holencik — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:59:00 GMT

People looking to lower their electricity bill need to add a sun tunnel or a tubular skylight to their homes, as by using the sunrays to light up your homes, you can save money by switching off the electric lights. A 10" reflective tube provides natural light of about 3750 lumens, much more than a 100w light bulb even on a cloudy day.

The sun tunnels work on the principle of taking the sunlight, coming from all directions, by a dome that is put on the roof. The sunlight is directed into a reflective tube made of aluminium, which has a reflective surface of very high reflection coefficient. The rigid and flexible sun tunnels have a dual diffuser that reduces the chance of condensation and increases energy efficiency while providing even light distribution through a frosted diffuser. A sun tunnel features a ring with a mirror finish just below the dome to reflect light from all angles into the tube.

Many factors affect the transmittance of the amount of light such as direction of Sun, orientation of roof, time of the day and season of the year, length and angle of the reflective tubes. The rigid shaft sun tunnel offers up to 3 times the light in a room than the flexible shaft model, because of the fact that the loss of light is minimal in the process. The amount of sunlight transmitted will be the most during noon and on a sunny day for both kinds of tubes.

Flexible tubes are available in 14" or 21" sizes with the flexible tubing that allows the unit to go around virtually any attic obstructions beyond the reach of rigid tubes, and provide sunlight to the otherwise inaccessible areas. The rigid tubes are available in 10" or 14" sizes, though are nearly as bright as a 21" flexible tunnel and give the greatest light dispersion and brightness. The highest individual transmittance recorded for a flexible tube stretched was 6.8%, which was less than one sixth of that for the rigid tube. The rigid sun tunnel is suitable for places which require direct and longer tunnel length, especially great for those areas with less sunlight or the North facing roofs, giving 98% reflectivity.

You can install both the tubes on roofs with slopes between 15 degree and 60 degrees, and the installation process requires only basic carpentry skills.

Daylighting – Your Home or Building with Natural Light

Mark Holencik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:57:00 GMT

Daylighting is the practice of placing reflective surfaces, windows or other openings so that during the day natural light provides effective internal lighting. It is mainly lighting an indoor space with such openings as skylights and windows, allowing daylight into the building, chosen to save energy, to avoid adverse health effects of over-illumination by artificial lights like light bulb, and for aesthetics. Other types of electric lights like florescent lamps, LED’s, and other devices are replacing incandescent light bulb. Using the principles of daylighting lessens the amount of energy needed to provide lighting, thus reducing CO₂ emissions.

Sun tunnels, used in commercial and domestic properties like bathrooms and cloakrooms that receive very little light are fitted onto any type of roofs; they bring natural light from the outside into the room below, and are available with a flexible or rigid tunnel. Sun tunnels and skylights bring the outdoors into your homes and the infiltration of natural light and fresh air makes it seem more spacious and beautiful. Skylights are domes or horizontal windows, placed on the roof of buildings. They admit more light per unit area than windows, and distribute it more evenly over a space. The reflective tube skylight is an acrylic domed opening in a roof that admits light through a reflective tube that is normally 10-14” in diameter, a round skylight emerges from the roof as a half-sphere bubble.

10” Sun tunnels are ideal to light up closets, bathrooms, narrow kitchens, hallways and any area that is approximately 150 square feet, needing natural light. The adjustable, small sized rigid tunnel offers easy alignment and facilitates installation on complex rooflines. The 10” and 14” diameters easily fit between 16” on center farming. Normally the 10” size is best for lighting areas up to 10’ x 10’. The gasket and double lens provide even light distribution by minimizing the chance of condensation. The low profile dome design parallels the roof slopes for an attractive appearance.

The amount of light reflected through the sun tunnel depends upon many factors, the biggest factor being the time of day, as mornings and evenings you tend to collect less of the sunrays, as compared to the midday. A lot depends on the direction of the sun, weather condition, season of the year, orientation of the sun tunnel or tube and its length, tunnel angles, or even the diffuser panel on the interior. All of these factors are used to determine how to use daylighting to your advantage.

Skylights get a bad name

Mark Holencik — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:39:00 GMT

Are skylights a good idea? This is a common question.
This is what gives skylights a bad name. This skylight was designed for a shingled roof. The velux skylight leaked from the day it was installed. It was installer error. The roof cement on the sides was the way a few handymen tried to fix the leak. It is a temporary fix. Installing the correct skylight is the only permanent solution.

This is a view from the right side.

Here we are removing the old skylight. Taking a little time to plan exactly where the curb will sit, saves a lot of time and makes for a nicer looking job.

We installed a 6” curb for this roof. On a flatter pitch 8” is recommended. This makes sure no water will makes it way under the skylight.

This is where the planning shows. The roofing material fits around the new curb. We can flash the curb without fixing the deck sheet. We screwed the new curb to the roof deck using deck screws.

Because of the weather conditions we chose to flash the skylight in with edpm rubber. Cold process asphalt roll roofing would have been used if it were late spring or summer. We used uncured edpm so that we could use roof cement to tie the two different materials together.

The skylight is installed on top of the curb. Screws are used to fasten the skylight to the curb. The picture below shows the roof cement with embedded cotton fabric. The cotton fabric embedded in the roof cement keeps the roof cement from cracking from expansion and contraction from the tempeture changes.

The difference in size from the old skylight to the new skylight was minimal. The inside could be fiinshed off with a piece of quarter round molding. This also saved the added expense of having a custom fit skylight made.

If there is not a stock size to fit your existing opening, we can have one custom made to fit. These custom fit skylights are very resonable. The biggest difference is lead time in having it custom made and delivered.

No more worries. No more buckets. No more slipping on the wet tile floor. Let it rain. Let it rain.

Eliminating Electric LIghting During the Day

Mark Holencik — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:57:00 GMT

Hello,

Here is a video from Sun Optics. They are well produced videos. Although they are geared to their product, lots of good information.

Natural LIght Solutions

Mark Holencik — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:20:00 GMT

Natural Light Solutions
By Anita Koppens

Natural light is one of our most valuable resources, yet is frequently taken for granted in the home, especially in the sun drenched Southern states. The sun's natural rays are an important tool for bringing a home interior to life, and just as importantly, it doesn't cost a dime. A generously-lit room will elevate your mood and is much more conducive to work, study or simply relaxing with a book. In built-up cities and towns, natural light alone is not adequate to fully illuminate a home, but with some consideration and creativity, it can balance and enhance the look of each and every room. Both the quantity and quality of natural light differs with the seasons, so at some times of the year, there will be a need for supplementary artificial light in the home.

Illuminating your home with natural light will work best with good positioning of windows, skylights and doorways and the actual floor plan and ceiling in a room is also important. A floor plan with too many alcoves and hidden recesses will leave parts of it in shadow. It is also beneficial to have a lighter shade for your ceiling so that natural light bounces downward into the room. It should be mentioned that rich, bold colors soak up much of the light, so neutral, pastel shades will help illuminate a room better. The strategic placing of a few mirrors will help draw in extra light and shrink areas of the room left in shadow and house plants can make a surprising difference to the overall brightness of a restricted space.

The placement of furniture and appliances can have a big effect on the amount of sunlight that enters a room. For example, a light and airy home office space is instrumental for comfort and efficiency, but a central desk or work station should be placed away from the direct glare of the noontime sun. Kitchens also need to be as bright as possible and, of course, well-ventilated. These ventilation outlets can often also act as a conduit for incoming natural light. Brightening up traditionally dark spaces can easily be achieved by borrowing light from neighboring rooms. This is best exemplified in long and dark corridors which often receive no natural light. The placement of a glass plate above an adjacent door will shower it with light and also give it a more spacious feel.

Modern technology can also give the home a helping hand. Tubular skylights are becoming more and more fashionable in homes across the country and need no energy. A transparent dome placed on the roof absorbs sunlight, which is then fed into a ceiling diffuser to emit natural light into the home. Models come in many shapes and sizes and can be used to brighten a whole house or just a single room. It filters out harmful UV rays ensuring furniture and fabrics do not lose color and is much less harsh than false light from fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. Dimmer controls can be used to vary the quantity of natural light that enters a room at any given time.

Find a home in California: Fallbrook Realty and Fontana, CA Real Estate.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anita_Koppens
http://EzineArticles.com/?Natural-Light-Solutions&id=1795047

The Health Benefits of Sunlight

Mark Holencik — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:31:00 GMT

Researchers have started recognizing the importance of sunlight for a healthy lifestyle, recent studies reveal that sunlight renders many health benefits. Apart from Sunlight maintaining temperature and humidity, sunlight plays a significant role in nourishing and energizing the human body. It is also vital in order to get the full nutritional value from food that you consume and it has been proven that getting sufficient sunlight aids in preventing chronic ailments such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), osteoporosis, mental depression, type 2 diabetes, and cancers affecting the bladder, breasts, cervix, colon, ovaries, prostrate, and the stomach. To put it more succinctly, sunlight serves as the perfect medicinal pill in promoting a healthy lifestyle.

One of the prime benefits of sunlight is that it supplies the body with Vitamin D, which not only promotes the absorption of calcium in the gut but also transfers calcium across the cell membranes. This in turn provides strength to the bones as well as contributes for a healthy nervous system by increasing the production of endorphins in the brain. Usually, deposits of cholesterol-like substances known as ergosterol can be found beneath the skin, which gets converted into Vitamin D hormones when the sunlight penetrates the skin.

Vitamin D also helps to lower the level of cholesterol in blood, and sunlight can even prevent the growth of cancerous tumors. Studies show that exposing your face to sunlight for 10 minutes every day can provide your body with the Vitamin D that is required for the day. A lack of Vitamin D is associated with a host of autoimmune ailments such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroditis.

Another significant benefit of sunlight is that it helps in the prevention of infections resulting from bacteria, molds, and viruses. The health benefits of sunlight include the enhancement of the immune system by increasing the count of white blood cells as well as gamma globulin, which is beneficial in warding off viruses and germs and it enhances the capacity of red blood cells in carrying oxygen.

According to certain studies, getting adequate sunlight serves as the perfect exercise for the heart, as it enables the body to lower the resting pulse rate and decreasing hypertension, thereby making the heart healthier. Sunlight also provides resistance power to the skin, by avoiding skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, and acne problems. Further, getting sunlight is also correlated with the stimulation of the pineal gland, which produces such vital chemicals as tryptamines.

Other health benefits derived through the exposure of sunlight are:

Strengthening of cardiovascular system
Normalizing blood pressure as well as blood sugar
Increased metabolism
Aiding in weight loss
Ensuring proper functioning of kidneys by eliminating wastes
Enhanced liver function
Improved digestion
Above all, sunshine has that magical power to alter your moods and cheer you up, thereby preventing anxiety and depression

Despite its advantages, excess exposure to sunlight may be sometimes destructive, as it can lead to ailments such as eye damage, melanomas, and skin cancer. Likewise, over exposure to sunlight may sometimes result in a change in the color as well as the size of the skin, appearance of irregular spots on the face, and itchiness or tenderness to the skin.

In other words, benefits derived from the sunlight depend upon its usage. Methods such as sunbathing and sun tanning are considered effective for getting adequate sunshine, but make sure that you are using a quality after-sun lotion in order to moisturize your skin after sun tanning. Likewise, put on such clothes that cover your arms as well as legs after sunbathing, which in turn safeguard you from further exposure. However the most important thing to remember that an excess of anything, including sunlight, can be damaging to your health.

This article was written by Scott White. Scott White is a personal trainer.