What to Consider When Lighting Your New School Gym

Construction & Contractors Blog

If you're building a new gym in your school, or remodelling an existing sports hall, you need to think about how it will be lit. Given that gyms are often one of the largest rooms on the school grounds, they usually need more light than the rest of your school. All this lighting needs to be planned correctly and efficiently to avoid accidents in the hall, overspending on the budget, and unsatisfactory results. Here are 5 things you'll need to have in mind before you contact a commercial electrical contractor to undertake your school gym lighting project.

Visibility

Sports halls can be one of the most hazardous parts of a school. The fast movement of people and equipment means that being able to see everything clearly is essential. When you're lighting the hall, you'll need to think about light shining down onto the floor, and light shining or reflecting onto the walls. If either of these elements are ignored, you'll increase your risk of accidents. For example, poorly lit flooring could prevent a child from seeing another player's feet, causing them to trip and fall. Likewise, if the walls are dark, it will be difficult for students to see airborne balls coming their way against the dim background. When planning and budgeting, make sure you'll have enough overhead lighting to illuminate the floor without dark spots in between lights. If these lights will not sufficiently illuminate the walls, you'll need to factor additional overhead lighting or wall lighting into your plans.

Placement

Given that dark spots between lights should be avoided, you may feel tempted to overcompensate by filling the ceiling with closely placed overhead lights. This is a bad idea. You should use as little light as possible to create a consistently bright environment, as too many overhead lights can cause glare in sports where balls will be thrown, hit, or kicked high. A good balance is essential to avoid issues like students feeling blinded when they look up to hit a tennis ball, for example.

Protection

You should never use lighting with exposed bulbs in your gym. With balls flying up in the area on a daily basis, it's only a matter of time before someone's strike hits one of the overhead lights. If the bulbs are exposed, they could shatter and cause injury, not to mention the expense of replacing the bulb. Remember that all lights will need to be protected in some way. Wire caging is a great way to guard lights without making them dimmer.

Motivation

For many students, physical education is a sore spot, and a lot of motivation is needed to get them involved. Even for young sporting enthusiasts, the wrong environment can create apathy towards the game. When you're lighting your sports hall, you need lights that will be comfortable and mood-boosting. Too much bright lighting can be unpleasant on the eyes and cause players to become disgruntled or get headaches. Likewise, if the room is too dim, your gym could start to feel more like a student's bedroom, with your players becoming bored and tired. Of course, lots of lighting is paramount to safety; if you feel like the room will be unattractively bright when it's fully lit, consider more off-white or yellow-toned lighting to reduce the harshness.

Heat

While gymnasium heat is not a great concern in many countries, it's very important in Australia. If you'll be playing sports indoors during the summer months, you'll want to keep the room as cool as possible. Hot lights can drastically increase the amount of money you'll be spending on air conditioning the gym. This makes LED lighting a good choice, as LED bulbs are often 20% cooler than CFL bulbs and 50% cooler than halogen bulbs.

29 July 2016