How To Select Your Residential Lighting Design
If you are thinking about making changes to your residential lighting design, you are not alone. More and more people are turning to update their lights as a way to give their home the extra flair it needs. Whether it’s adding a pop or reducing glare, here are several things to consider when choosing which lights or fixtures will work best for your space. Understanding Lumens & Brightness Before you start shopping for a new residential lighting design, you must understand how lumens measure brightness in modern-day light fixtures. This is because many of us have come accustomed to using wattage as a measurement, but that only tells half the story- especially where LED bulbs are concerned. Luckily, some apps can help measure up the lights for you to determine if they will work in your space. Start by finding a light fixture that you would like to purchase, and then use the lumens measurement found on the back of the box or an included booklet. Once you have determined how many lumens it takes to brighten up your room, look for another light fixture with a comparable amount of lumens to not exceed those measurements. If you want something brighter, consider looking at multiple lights instead of just one. Alternatively, if you prefer a dimmer ambiance, choose one larger light fixture over several smaller ones. What About Filaments? After determining what lighting design will suit your space best, ask yourself what kinds of filament bulbs you would prefer. Options include: Incandescent filaments — Traditional incandescent light bulbs have a thin filament encased in a vacuum inside the glass shell of the bulb. These are very inexpensive, but they also use more energy and produce heat as opposed to light. This means that it will take longer for your lights to warm up and reach full brightness. On top of that, these traditional filaments can burn out over time and need to be replaced at least once every six months, if not more frequently (depending on usage). Halogen filaments: Like incandescent filament bulbs, halogens work by using an electrical current flowing through a wire filament that heats them and produces light. However, halogens operate at a much cooler temperature than traditional incandescent lights, so they can last up to three times longer. While this means you will spend more upfront on the light itself, it’ll save you money in the long run since you won’t have to change them as frequently. In conclusion, if you only replace a few bulbs, it may be worth investing in halogen filaments. However, for more drastic changes where you need to replace most of your residential lighting design, it might be best to consider LED lights or CFL (compact fluorescent) filaments instead.