Anti-glare downlights reduce discomfort from direct eye contact as the LED light source is positioned further back within the downlight. They’ve become increasingly popular in recent years as they offer a more modern looking design than traditional downlights. Applications include living rooms, bathrooms as well as commercial projects for restaurants, casinos, receptions and more.
If you have ever been distracted or had eye strain and even a headache from harsh lighting, glare from badly chosen downlighters will often be the culprit. Quickly learn why and how to choose downlights effectively and drastically reduce the glare from the downlights in your interior.
What is Glare of Light?
Glare is the description given to the experience of uncomfortable light into the eyes.
It can come from the light source itself, e.g. light directly into your eyes from a luminaire as well as the the experience of where the light ends up, e.g. where a surface is lit too brightly and the contrast to its surroundings is too great and therefore just too bright to look at easily.
Even the casual buyer of downlighters will benefit from knowing a little about the causes of glare as the good news is it can be reduced if the downlighters for the room are chosen wisely.
UGR – The Measurement of Glare
UGR stands for the Unified Glare Rating and is how glare is quantified from light sources in a space. It’s helpful to know of this rating as a downlight manufacturer can measure and specify the UGR value of the product so you can head for the better ones.
UGR is calculated by considering:
- the brightness of the space
- the luminance or brightness of the light source
- the angle of the occupants line-of-sight in relation to the light source
- their position in relation to the downlight
The result grades the intensity of glare in a particular area on a scale from 10 to 30 with 10 being the good end of glare and 30 being hideous!
Why is a Downlight so Glare.
A group of downlights can feel too bright because they are producing too much light for the size, color and finish of the room but it can also be because some of its light is meeting the users eye too directly.
Radians lighting has some anti-glare downlight with low glare suitable for widely usage.
