Make Your Home's Lighting Cool and Energy Efficient

Posted On: January 23, 2020

Lighting design can go a long way to making your home look and feel contemporary and modern. If you’re looking to add style and energy efficiency to the lighting design of your home, here are a few principles to keep in mind:

Quality Over Quantity 
This goes for both the type of lighting and how it’s used within your home. We’ve preached the gospel of choosing LED lightbulbs over incandescent bulbs for a while but be sure that your lighting illuminates each room where its needed most. That way you aren’t turning on multiple lights to brighten one room. 

Dimmer Switches 
Along with modernizing the look of your home’s light switches, dimmers extend the life of each bulb by reducing the flow of electricity, meaning you only use the amount that’s needed. If you plan to use low lighting long-term, you may be better off using bulbs with a lower wattage than installing high illumination bulbs and keeping them dim.

Timer Controls
Using timers saves energy because each light will only be on when you need them. Many people set their lights to turn on and off at dusk and dawn, respectively, when they are out of town, but you can customize the settings to work for your schedule using traditional timers or smart devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home.

Recessed versus Pendant Lighting
Recessed lighting (or downlight) is a light fixture that’s installed into a hollow opening in a ceiling and shines as a broad floodlight while pendant lighting hangs from the ceiling by a chain or rod. When choosing which one works for your living spaces, think about how you want light to work for you in each room. For example, multiple pendants are great for task lighting in kitchens.