Lighting and comfort

By: Duván Chaverra A.

What would it be of the human being living in the gloom and without an element as necessary as light? Since the discovery of fire, essential for cooking food and illuminating caverns in the past, developments in this aspect do not cease to amaze.

Within a hotel or restaurant, lighting plays a decisive role when attracting guests, as it is still a striking element capable of transmitting sensations, supporting a concept and offering the necessary comfort to the client.

Technology does not stop surprising us with its constant developments and lighting is no stranger to this. In the past the most important thing was to illuminate regardless of the value or methods to achieve it, today there are mechanisms that in addition to impressing also seek to save on consumption, which means consequently lower costs.

Therefore, different alternatives in lighting are already on the market, and in this article what we intend is to know what are those alternatives that are currently dominating the lighting market within our industry.

Therefore, we contacted three experts in the field, who will solve some unknowns about the main trends in lighting, not only in terms of technology, but also in light design, their location within the space and the most recommended lighting according to the style of your hotel.

Aurelio Vásquez Durán, president of DIN Interiorismo in Mexico; Luis Carlos Rodríguez, general manager of Fasst Lighting S.A. in Colombia, and Adrian Morel, specialist in LED technology are our guests and with whom we will seek to advise the hotelier who can use as a guide.

Technologies currently used
There is no doubt, and this can be verified by our experts, that fluorescent lights and LEDs are the ones that are dominating the market within the hotel industry, and are in a race to collapse the incandescent bulb.

"There are basically two technologies used: compact fluorescence and LEDs, although other types can be used. The compact fluorescence allows to obtain yields of around 70 lumens per watt (compared to the 15 lm / watt of a classic incandescent lamp) and the LEDs that increasingly incorporate more powerful luminous packages with minimum consumption (from 4 to 12 Watts) and very attractive designs, "said Aurelio Vásquez.

For his part, Adrian Morel talks about the type of lighting that is currently being used according to the spaces within a hotel: "This depends on the application or the luminaire. Right now there is a relentless war against incandescent and every effort is being made to remove this type of bulb from the market. For generalized lighting, the fluorescent tube is still present; for rooms, common spaces, bathrooms and corridors, CFL or compact fluorescent Lighting is still very present. For accentuation, highlight, luminous gorges, gardens and task lighting, LED is used to a greater extent."

Luis Carlos Rodríguez spoke about energy saving and the reduction of pollutants: "Literally all technologies have evolved, for different types of reasons, a primary one is energy saving and therefore the reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Of course, each is more efficient than its immediate predecessor, more lumens per watt, and in some cases also changes its physical size, which allows the development of smaller designs."

All of the above supports the statement about the type of lights that are dominating the market.

"The leadership of each of the technologies is given in its application. Each one according to the area, the function, the colors and some architectural aspects of the place are decisive for its application, definitely as a cutting-edge technology the LEDs are undoubtedly the latest generation in lighting, in this field the references and applications are diverse, "said Rodríguez.

And he added that "the great problem of LEDs (considered as the lighting solution of the future) is that they came to the market with very few options and at too high prices. With the passage of time this technology becomes more accessible every day, thus achieving greater penetration. Something like this happens with a third saving technology that is the "Magnetic Induction", cutting-edge technology, which for now is still too expensive".

In this regard, Adrian Morel assures that in the future much more surprising technologies will arrive than the current ones, but for now fluorescents and LEDs are still at the forefront: "At the moment yes, they are the leaders, but there are also other similar technologies or variations of it that are being successfully developed in laboratories, with good results."

The ideal balance
For lighting systems in hotels there must be an ideal balance between energy saving, the environment and aesthetics, today you should not only think of the latter factor as the most indispensable, as there are other components that deserve the same attention.

The president of ADI Interior Design recommended three premises to take into account when using lighting systems:

A) Energy savers: since they require significant lighting levels and because they are on for about 24 hours a day, energy consumption is high.
B) Long-lasting: due to the maintenance work, it would be very expensive to incorporate short-lived lamps that result in a high maintenance cost, in addition to frequent inconvenience to guests who do not like to see these maneuvers.
C) Quality and warmth of the light: mainly in the areas of Lobby, reception and rooms it is necessary to promote warm, friendly environments with high rates of color reproduction, that is, that the light reproduces the colors correctly.

The general manager of Fasst Lighting S.A also delivered from his experience the most recommended lighting systems for hotels.

"Each of the sources of Commercial Lighting are applicable in a project, in the specific case of a hotel we could use discharge sources to save some heights, for facades and some cases of parking or storage; the corridors, corridors and service circulations get a perfect balance between LEDs and halogens, and definitely the decorative lamps with incandescence and halogen give a touch of distinction to the rooms. In order to present an adequate proposal, it is important to coordinate with the interior designer of the project, and not to forget the automation that is a key element in energy saving and guest comfort".

Therefore, according to our sources, the installation and creativity of the lighting goes according to the place where they will be located.

"Lighting design in hotels is definitely essential. With this it is possible to give accents, intentions, emphasis, routes, character and personality to the projects. The lighting design is one more factor that is taken into account, as well as the materials, the budget, the market to which it is focused, the concept of the brand, among others. Within the lighting design projects there must be a logic and congruence with the rest of the elements, it should not stand out or go unnoticed but be part of the balance generated by the integral concept, "explained Aurelio Vásquez.

For his part, Luis Carlos Rodríguez said that lighting is responsible for giving life to all the spaces within a hotel: "Artificial and natural lighting play a primary role in the most relevant aspects of the project, the architect and the interior designer develop a project according to the needs of the client, the spatial requirements, the decoration and color. Without adequate light, each of the above themes loses its importance, because the human eye is very critical of poorly lit spaces, and in most cases the perception of good design is based on very good lighting."

Lighting materials
There is no doubt that all materials can be illuminated, it all depends on the type of lamp used and the demands that arise at the time of installation.

"If we refer to the materials of lighting, as an exterior or physical part, today's luminaires are made of different types of materials: glass, steel, aluminum, glass, polycarbonate, acrylics and some plastics that meet certain special technical standards, but you must work as a team, to find the material that best suits the demands of the interior designer", pointed out the general manager of Fasst Lighting S.A.

On the subject, Adrian Morel said that "the most appropriate materials are those that have a 100% refractory effect, following the principles of the Albedo effect, mentioning that white objects reflect light better than black objects."

To keep in mind
What better than one of our invited experts so that at the end of this article he offers entrepreneurs belonging to this industry some recommendations to renew the lighting system of his hotel or restaurant. Aurelio Vásquez Durán, president of DIN Interiorismo commented the following:

- That the aesthetics and comfort of the client are not sacrificed with a saving eagerness, there must be a balance. In addition, in hotel lighting -more than in any other area- the cheap of today, is expensive forever.

- That you take care of the visual comfort of your guests in an almost obsessive way, for example, having enough light in critical areas (bed tables, lighting for reading). Also that they take care of the chromatic reproduction of the lamps used in "vanities" and mirrors, since a very frequent claim (especially of the guests), is that they can not be made up properly in the light of a system that does not reproduce the colors in the best way, or worse, that distorts them. "