The Only House Lighting Guide You Need!

Have you heard of light pollution? Light pollution is caused by ineffective and unnecessary use of artificial lighting. The two main types of light pollution are light that trespasses into low lighted areas, such as your neighbors' home, and overly bright lights that causes discomfort and health issues.

Lighting up your house does not mean that you need to use the brightest and the most glaring lights. By ensuring that your lighting is not contributing to light pollution, you can also save up on your electricity bill.

Using the wrong choice of lights can cause energy wastage as the emitting light is scattered all over the place instead of lighting up the ground. Hence, if you use lower wattage lights covered with the right shields, you can achieve the desired lighting effects, enjoy savings on your electricity bills, and save the dark skies at the same time.

Here are some considerations for you to take note before heading to the lighting store. Decide on the purpose of the lighting, whether they are for security measures, visibility or for decorative purposes?

For security purposes, the main concern is how long should the light be kept shinning. Most families keep their security lights on throughout the night. If your lights are on throughout the night, they only create chances for someone to break in as your neighbors and your family members are used to the lighted environment. However, if you use motion sensors, the sudden switching on of the lights only only scares the intruder, but also alerts your neighbors.

If your house needs lights for visibility, you need consider the amount of wattage and the locations for the lights. The necessary locations include the walking paths, the entry way, and the car park. A low wattage light should be sufficient to light up the pathways and entrance area. You can also install motion sensors as you will not be needing the lights through the night.

For decorative lights, you will need to determine the necessary areas that require lights. Motion sensor and timer lights are great for decorative purposes as you can program when to keep them switched on, so that your family members can be entertained at the right time.

Most of the time, you will find lights that are neither efficient nor effective, and consume tons of energy in the retailing stores. Here are some tips on how to select friendly lights.

• Choose no glare and neighbor friendly lights. These lights will help create a better environment for the neighborhood.
• Choose lights that have controllable fixtures. These kind of lights help to control the direction and the focus on the lights on the necessary areas. Their light bulbs should be hidden inside the fixture or covered with shields to prevent glare.
• Do not trust lights with energy star labels. They are only great in reducing the energy consumption and some of them still emits glare.
• Select the lights based the required level of brightness. Some of the retailers are not concerned with light pollution issues and may provide you with the wrong information.
• Choose lights with motion sensors. If they do not come with this feature, select those that have fixtures for you to attach the sensors.
• Choose the lowest wattage bulb. Most of the lights come with the highest wattage as they want the lights to be as bright as possible. You can ask for lower wattage bulb from the retailers.