What to Consider When Buying Light Fittings?

A lot of people undermine the importance lighting has in the home when it comes to practicality and how it can impact the mood in the room. Using various different fittings to create different effects can make your space more versatile. But with so many options available to you, how do you choose the best lighting for your home?

Well, there are two ways to go about it – you can either find out through trial and error, or get a designer to do it for you. I personally love doing it on my own through trial and error, but if you don’t feel as confident, then the following considerations can serve as starting points into getting the right light fittings for your home.

The Type of Bulbs

The first decision you’ll have to make is the type of lighting bulbs on the light fittings you’ll be getting. Generally, you can pick between LED and incandescent bulbs. Incandescent lights are the cheaper option but are very inefficient, as only about 5% of the energy that they consume is converted to light. LED on the other hand, are smaller, very energy efficient and robust. They’re the most preferred option nowadays, due to their instant switch time, and the fact that they don’t emit any heat.

The Effect

People usually use lights to achieve one of the three possible desired effects – ambient, task and accent.

Ambient lights, as their word implies, aim to improve the ambient of the room and promote relaxation. They typically mimic natural light and are commonly used in bedrooms, living and dining rooms.

Task lights provide a bright light which is focused on a specific area to provide visibility. Some of the more common task lights include desk lamps or ceiling-down lights in the kitchen and garage. The main purpose of these lights is to provide a lighting source in places where precision work is required without causing eye strain.

Accent lights, are the most creative lighting effect. They aren’t intended for functionality, but to simply create drama and showcase key features in the room like paintings, alcove, etc. They’re usually combined with ambient lights to give the room more flexibility.

Features

Some of the most commonly found features in lighting solutions are timers, dimmers and the wall switch. The timers are either mechanically or digitally operated, and you can decide to turn the lights on or off over a 24h period as a safety measure. Dimmers allow you to alter the brightness of your light to set a certain type of mood. There are touch, remote and switch dimmers. And wall switches are designed to operate the ceiling or wall lights, and they’re typically placed next to the door for easy access.