Professional Documents
Culture Documents
How To Pick The Best Light Bulb For Every Room
How To Pick The Best Light Bulb For Every Room
HOME LATEST SKILLET TWO CENTS VITALS OFFSPRING TECH 911 THE UPGRADE VIDEO
DIY
The lighting in a room isn’t just part of the decor; it can affect everything from your
sleep schedule to your brain power. So it’s understandable that you want your home,
the place you presumably spend a big chunk of your life, to be lit nicely. But there are
so many different options to choose from!
Certain types of lighting serve a specific purpose, and when it comes to your home,
you want the right type, depending on the purpose of your room. To optimize your
home’s lighting, first consider how you’re using each room.
Generally, lighting function falls in one of three categories: ambient, task, and
accent.
ADVERTISEMENT
· Task lighting lights up a work or reading area. You want this lighting to be
brighter than your ambient lighting, so the contrast focuses the light in the
specified area. Desk lamps and under-cabinet kitchen lights are common task
lighting options. But pendants and track lighting can be used for task lighting,
too, but it depends on how you layer the lighting in your room, and how bright
your bulbs are (which we’ll cover in a bit).
Top Articles
READ MORE
The 10 Best Deals of February
The 10 Best Deals of February
3, 2021
Kindle Paperwhite
$95 at Amazon
To properly light your rooms using these techniques, consider how you’re going to
use each room and whether there’s anything you want to accent in the room. Then,
start layering. HGTV recommends you start with ambient lighting, then consider
task and accent lighting:
“I like to move from general to specific when planning the lighting for a room,”
says lighting designer Markus Earley of Providence, R.I. With rooms that are
heavily task-oriented, however, such as home offices, some designers focus on
task lighting first. And in a hallway that doubles as a photo or art gallery, accent
lighting might be the first consideration.
ADVERTISEMENT
Then, think about where that lighting will go in the room. Don’t worry about the
fixtures yet, just think about where you want different lighting to fall in the room. If
you’re not sure where to start, consider these general, room-by-room suggestions:
· Bathroom: Bathroom lighting can be tricky. You want task lighting for the
mirror, but an overhead task light can create shadows. Consider lighting the
mirror on either side. Then, use an overhead ambient light to fully illuminate
the room.
ADVERTISEMENT
Of course, if you’re a renter, you may not be able to do much about some of the
lighting position in your home or apartment. But these general guidelines can give
you an idea of how to work with what you’ve got.
Your bulb is your light source, so the type of bulb determines what the light will look
like. Different bulbs perform differently, and there are four basic types:
· Incandescent: These are the traditional bulbs most of us have used for
decades, and they’re starting to phase out in favor of more energy-efficient
options. They produce a warm, glowing light.
· Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs): These use 75 percent less energy than an
incandescent bulb. They also last longer. They usually emit a cooler tone, but
you can find them in a range of brightness levels and temperatures. It’s worth
noting that CFLs do contain mercury, and while the amounts are small, they
still require more careful handling and disposal, says National Geographic.
· LEDs: These are just as efficient as CFLs, but they can last up to three times
longer. They used to be mostly used for task lighting, because they only
provided a harsh, direct light, but like CFLs, they’ve come a long way. They now
offer the same look as incandescents, but they’re efficient, less hot to the touch,
and last a long time. For these reasons, they can also be more expensive, but
there are utility rebates available.
· Halogen: These give off a bright, white light, similar to natural daylight. Great
for task lighting. They also use 10-20 percent less energy than an incandescent
bulb.
ADVERTISEMENT
There are other types of bulbs, but these are the most common you’ll use in your
home. And for the purpose of this post, we’re only concerned with how bulbs look. If
you want to learn more about how they work, check out this helpful post from the
American Lighting Association. The FTC now requires bulb packaging to include
information about brightness, how long the bulb will last, how much energy it uses,
and whether it meets Energy Star requirements. (Here’s a sample label from the
NRDC.)
ADVERTISEMENT
The more lumens, the brighter the bulb. A typical home bulb produces about 800
lumens, which is the equivalent of 60 watts. So how many lumens do you need for
each room? That’ll depend on how big your room is, what color your walls are, and,
obviously, intensity of lighting you prefer. Use this calculator to come up with a
specific number, based on your home and preferences. But here’s a general
breakdown, via HouseLogic:
Keep in mind, these are rough estimates and account for the use of different types of
bulbs and lighting options in each room. Kitchens are typically brighter and include
a mix of ambient light and task lighting, for example. Bedrooms and living rooms are
typically less bright.
ADVERTISEMENT
If you know how to light your room in terms of watts, here’s a wattage-to-lumens
cheat sheet.
Beyond brightness, you also want to consider the color temperature of the light.
CFLs weren’t great years ago, because they mostly only produced a very blue, cool
light. But they’ve come a long way, and you can now find them in warmer, yellower
tones. The package should tell you the color temperature of the light, from warm to
cool, measured in Kelvins. The higher the Kelvins, the cooler the light. Lighting blog
Batteries + Bulbs explains how bulb boxes typically refer to different bulb
temperatures. The also add where these temperatures are best used in your home:
· Soft white/warm white (2700 Kelvins): Best for bedrooms and living
rooms; providing a traditional warm, cozy feel to them.
ADVERTISEMENT
You can also try this interactive tool from Energy Star, which suggests what kind of
bulb to get for different lighting options in every room.
It helps to have a basic idea of how bulbs work. This way, you can pick and choose a
bulb to your liking. Also, dimmers are a great option if you want to vary the intensity
of your lighting. We’ve covered how to install a dimmer switch yourself.
ADVERTISEMENT
Now that you know the function of your lighting, how bright you want it, and what
temperature you prefer, it’s time to pick the best type of fixture for optimizing all of
those factors. Here are some common fixtures, along with how (and where) they’re
typically used:
· Ceiling mount fixtures: Pretty standard for ambient lighting. The House
Designers say they’re ideal in entry foyers, hallways, bedrooms, task areas,
stairways. In hallways, they recommend spacing out fixtures every eight to 10
feet for adequate illumination.
· Chandeliers: When used for general or ambient lighting, they’re best used in
dining room or or bedrooms.
· Wall-mounted fixtures: These are usually sconces. They can be used in any
room for ambient, task, or accent lighting, depending on where you put them
and what kind of bulb you use.
· Pendant lighting: Used for task or general lighting, they hang from the ceiling
and are equipped with shades to avoid glare. They work best over dining room
tables, countertops or other work areas.
· Recessed lighting: Again, recessed lighting can be used anywhere for general,
task or accent lighting. It all depends on how bright they are and where they’re
located.
· Track lighting: You can use track lighting for pretty much anything, too. It’s
especially versatile because you can often move the individual lamps around
and point them in whatever direction you want. This might be as an accent to
highlight some artwork, or you might just use them to illuminate the whole
room.
· Table lamps: Great for accent lighting in a living room or task lighting in a
bedroom.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Lighting Research Center offers detail about some additional light fixtures,
including how to install them and what sort of lighting effect they have. Remember:
different fixtures call for different types of bulbs. So as you’re picking a fixture,
consider what type of bulb it requires.
This is more of a design rule than a lighting rule, but when picking the right fixture,
you also want to consider size. A fixture that’s too small or too big can make your
room’s proportions look odd. LightsOnline lists some guidelines for choosing the
right size fixture, but here are some highlights:
· Table lamps: A great general rule of thumb is that the lamp should be no more
than 1.5 times the height of whatever the lamp is sitting on and lampshade
diameter should be no wider than the table top.
· Sconces: The closer you will be to whatever the sconce is lighting, the smaller
the sconce should be. So for example, in bathrooms where you will be close to
the mirror, go for tiny ones of about 9-10”. In bathrooms, mount sconces 36 to
40” apart, flanking the mirror, 18” from the sink’s center line. If the sconces
have shades, put the bottom edges of the shades a little below eye level (60 to
68” from the floor).
ADVERTISEMENT
For some, home design comes naturally, and it’s easy enough to eyeball your lighting
when decorating. For the rest of us, it can take following a few rules and guidelines,
and these should get you started in the right direction.
This story was originally published in June 2015 and was updated on Nov. 30,
2020 to include updated links and a new header photo.
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE THIS STORY GET OUR NEWSLETTER
Subscribe
DISCUSSION
Woyvel Lloyce
6/25/15 8:35AM
As a lighting professional, I wouldn’t recommend 5000-6000K for anything indoors other than
industrial use. You’ll find only a few bulbs available in the US market at those temperatures.
Bathrooms and kitchens should be at 2700-3000K. At 4000 or above you’ll see more color
differences, scratches, and slight imperfections. Colors won’t blend as well, food looks less
appealing and you’ll see more lines and contrast in makeup, causing you to spend more time in
the bathroom (a testament from a customer who mistakenly purchased 5000K bulbs for his
wife’s bathroom)