Lighting Buying Guide
The world of lighting is complex and plentiful making an informed decision difficult when it comes to sizing up a light fitting for your room whilst ensuring its 4 corners are adequately lit for purpose. Firstly, ask yourself: What do you want your lights to offer?
Ambience – Creating moods in a room with warm colours and bold statements
Brightness – Effective working light for home offices, reading and desk work
Accent – Lighting dark corners, pictures and focal points
Function – Enhanced focused lighting directed in an area requiring extra light (Kitchen, Hallways, etc..)
What next you ask? Have a look at the styles of lighting below including Wall Sconces and Cluster Pendant Lights to name one or two…
Pendant Lights – Common light style hanging from the ceiling often with a shade, Ambience
Cluster Lights – Draws single pendant lights together creating a cluster for effect, ideal over a dining table, Ambience
Chandeliers – Number of lights hinging from a single central fixture, traditional configuration but available in modern styling also, Ambience
Flush Ceiling Lights – Ideal for lower ceilings, these lights sit tight to the ceiling surface, Function
Spotlights – Directional lights with a focused light source, Functional and Accent
Table Lamps – Usually decorative in various designs, Ambience and Functional
Desk Lamps – Functional for lighting work spaces and desk, Function
Floor Lamps – Free standing lighting for any room made popular by studio apartments, Ambience and Accent
Wall Lights – Wall affixed lighting for an elegant look with ambience, Ambience and Function
Safety Information
Lighting for Bathrooms and the garden need an IP (Ingress Protection) rating of IP44 or greater. The higher the second numerical digit of the IP rating, the better protected against water the light will be. IP68 for example, is a submersible light for ponds and jacuzzi tubs.
Jargon Buster
CFL – Compact Fluorescent Lamp, an energy saving light bulb used to replace traditional light bulbs
Dimmable – specific dimmers can be used to dim the light level of the fitting or light bulb. Not all lights are dimmable so please check the description
Class – every light has a class. Class I requires an Earth while Class II does not. This information is not important during purchase as your electrician can adopt your setup for both types
Non-Electric – pendant lights that simply fit onto your existing ceiling drop without the need for an electrician
Integrated LED – The LED light source is built into the fitting and generally not replaceable however most of these fittings have an expected life of 20,000 – 50,000 and a warranty of 2 years minimum up to 7 years maximum
Kelvin – determines the light bulb colour, the lower the rating the more yellow (softer) the light, the higher the more blue (brighter) the colour.
LED – Replacement light bulb which in some cases can use 80% less energy than traditional light bulbs
Lumen – the effective (useable) light level provided by that light bulb
1 Comment
Fantastic article on home lighting!