Home lighting is one of the most important elements for decorating your home. It is also important to consider the types of home lighting you use to help with the energy bill, as well. Also see installing remote lighting.

There are four types of home lighting, and they are all useful for different reasons.  These include:

1. General Lighting – This lighting illuminates the entire room.  There are dimmers and recessed lights that can be installed for added flexibility and adjusting in brightness.  
2. Task Lighting – This is light that gives you enough light to perform a specific task, such as:  reading, shaving, cooking, etc.  This type of lighting should be glare free, and should make things easier to see without tiring or straining the eyes.
3. Accent Lighting – This type of lighting is focused lighting that illuminates a sculpture, a piece of art, or architectural element in a room.  This type of light is generally three times as bright as general lighting.
4. Natural Lighting – Natural lighting comes through the windows, doors, and skylights in a home.  The brightness and intensity can vary depending on the time of day it is, the season, and the weather.

Home Lighting Tips 

• Before purchasing home lighting fixtures, determine what activities will occur in each area of a room.  It is okay to combine different types of home lighting.  In fact, this can create a more dramatic effect.
• Home lighting can literally change the feel of a room.  By a few simple techniques, a room can appear to be larger or smaller for a cozier feel.  If a room seems too narrow, have the light face the wall to visually expand it.  If a ceiling is too high and you want a cozier atmosphere, don’t let the light escape too far beyond the light or lamp shade.  For a small room that needs to appear larger, light up the ceiling.  
• Think of home lighting from two different views – functional and decorative.  From a functional perspective, home lighting needs to provide the correct type of light for an intended purpose.  From a decorative point of view, home lighting can be configured to create a desired atmosphere through the lighting’s brightness and color.

Room by Room Home Lighting Ideas

• Living Room - Put a lamp behind every reader’s shoulder.  The light should be about 42 inches above the floor.  Highlight a framed piece of art with a halogen, track lighting or attach a picture light.  Illuminate bookshelves or display shelves with accent lights.  Install recessed lighting for the general lighting.  To wash a wall with light, purchase slim strip lights.   They come in many different lengths.
• Kitchen – A grid of recessed ceiling cans is a great type of general lighting for a kitchen.  Install recessed down-lights for task lighting above the sink and stove.  Halogen pendant lights are a great accent over bars and counters.  Under-cabinet lights are great for task lighting.  
• Dining Room – Chandeliers over the dining room table create a luxurious atmosphere.  Install a dimmer.  For a china cabinet, install a halogen strip lighting.  Instead of a chandelier, a trio of pendant lights is an elegant touch.
• Bedrooms – Table lamps should be placed on tables near the bed.  Do not use halogen lamps for children’s rooms, as they tend to get very hot.  For general lighting, try wall sconces.  They provide light without being too bright.
• Bathrooms – Around the mirrors for grooming, install shadow-free fluorescent or CFL lights, which are compact fluorescent lights.  Place mirror lights on the side instead of overhead to avoid heavy shadows.  Install a nightlight in the bathroom.

Standard incandescent light bulbs have a high lifetime operation cost and produce a lot of excessive energy waste.  It is recommended that you replace all lighting with a CFL, as they only consume about a third of the electricity than an incandescent bulb, and they even last up to ten times longer.  Home lighting is an important aspect of how your home functions, appears, and uses energy.  

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