Lighting is a crucial part of your home, one that is more complicated than many people realize. You need to have enough lighting in a given space to see clearly, but it should also enhance your home’s atmosphere and decor. Finding the right lighting for your home takes time and experimentation on your part, but you can start with some basics that all homeowners should know.
1. Knowing the Types of Lighting
Most home lighting can be divided into three categories: ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Ambient lighting illuminates an entire space enough to see your surroundings, but it’s usually a softer glow. It usually comes from overhead lights, chandeliers, or even a well-placed lamp. Task lighting is brighter, focused lighting for tasks such as reading, working, cooking, and anything else that might require a brighter light. This includes lights over a bathroom mirror or kitchen counter as well as a reading light in the corner of a room. Finally, accent lighting is used to draw attention to certain things in a space, such as decorations or works of art. Accent lights aren’t as bright as task lights, but they usually need to be brighter than ambient lighting to draw people’s attention.
2. Choosing the Right Bulbs and Lighting Fixtures
There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing the right light bulbs for your home. For example, a bright fluorescent LED bulb might be great for accent or task lighting, but it’s usually too harsh for ambient lighting. While you should still stick with LED light bulbs whenever you can, look for bulbs that have a warmer color for your ambient lighting, and try to soften it even more with lampshades or dimmer switches. Save the brighter bulbs for your task lighting, especially in places where you need the most visibility. You’ll probably want brighter lights for your kitchen, bathroom, or workspaces than for a relaxing reading light.
As for accent lighting, that usually doesn’t need to be as bright as task lighting, but it should be enough to draw attention. It can overpower a space if it’s too bright, though.
3. Being Energy Efficient
Modern LED bulbs can sometimes be too bright for ambient lighting, but they are far more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. They last longer, use less energy overall, and will help keep your electric bill manageable. Incandescent bulbs can work if you want a warmer glow in a space that you may not use very often, but you should stick to LED bulbs whenever you can.
For more tips on lighting your home or if you need new lighting installed, contact Electrical Pros in Topeka, KS today.