Most people are interested in switching to LED light rather than choosing the conventional style of lighting. From availing yourself of the advantages of longevity to enjoying the perks of advanced energy efficiency standards, there are many benefits of LED bulbs that are likely to suit all your needs and household requirements.
One thing that needs to be considered is that the prices of LED lights have dropped in the past few years, and it also helps you save money in the long run. In simple words, it is one of the most cost-efficient lighting solutions for your house.
The best part is that these lights are the best selection to decorate your rooms. Being widely used in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and many others, LED lights to give an edge to your surroundings with an illuminated essence.
So, if you are planning to get interior and exterior LED lighting for your home, we have mentioned a few effective steps on its placement, spacing, and layout with illumination to enhance the look. These procedures can effectively help you plan your residential lightning and add vibrancy with creative imagination.
Start with making a list
The most important thing that you need to consider is the number and type of bulbs that you will need in your home. You can also have a count of the voltage and wattage for each bulb so that you can have insured control over the illumination that you need for the individual rooms.
A19 medium screw base bulb is perhaps the most preferred option for interior LED lighting. Depending on the necessities of your outdoor lighting, you can go for reflective LED lights. If you already have bulbs that are in use, you can take them as reference for equivalent shapes and sizes to make sure that it suits your requirements.
Color is a concern
Selecting what light appearance you require for your space can make a huge difference between what you have thought to what you actually get. So make sure to understand the needs of your surroundings when it comes to the color of your LED lights.
Warm white LED lights are best for bedrooms and living rooms as they are similar to traditional incandescent bulbs. These interior LED lightings give a very appealing, warm, and inviting look. When it comes to office or workspaces, it is best to utilize neutral white LED lights because of their neutral color temperature. The kitchen and bathroom may look good and can have a cooler color temperature.
Know the watts
It was a time when wattage was used as a reference for measuring the bulb’s brightness. It is important to understand that wattage indicates the amount of energy that a bulb utilizes. This means, for traditional incandescent bulbs, higher wattage implies brighter bulbs.
However, this theory does not apply to LED lightings as they use far less energy for better efficiency. This is the reason why wattage is no longer considered a measurement or indicator of a bulb’s brightness.
Instead, the best way to measure it is with the Lumen (lm) rating, which is actually the most accurate medium to tell how bright a bulb is in comparison to the incandescent alternative. It explains the amount of light given by a bulb or its brightness.
Have a look at your financial and environmental savings
It is a fact that LED lights are extremely expensive compared to the other bulbs available in the market today. However, the good thing is that with recent advancements in its technology, the cost has dramatically lowered for better accessibility.
Also, LED bulbs are an investment that will help you save money over their long lifetime. Since these lighting options are extremely efficient, you do not have to look for a bulb for a considerable amount of time.
Get started with one or two bulbs
Now that you know what you are looking for with your interior and exterior lighting, it is time that you get started with buying your first LED bulb.
You need to keep in mind that for your first purchase, start with small. Shop for one or two bulbs that you can use for a lamp or ceiling fixture so that you get an idea of how well it works for you. It is important that you look for the right replacement bulb before you get them in bulk for your entire home and invest a considerable amount of money.
Evaluate your test LED bulbs
Do you like the quality of what you have bought? Is your interior LED lighting better than what you used to have? Is your exterior LED lighting bright enough? Are you happy with the color temperature?
These are just a few questions that you need to ask yourself while evaluating the test LED bulbs you got. Make a note on appearance, energy use initially, cost, and brightness to have a better understanding of how the solution works for you.
Replace the lights that are mostly used for maximum savings
For most of us, there is a specific space that we regularly use. Or, in certain cases, there are lights that are kept on for long periods. It is important for you to understand that you are spending more money powering these bulbs than the others in your house. So make sure that you target these areas and upgrade them first to maximize your savings and save money as much as possible.
The longevity of the bulb is important
One thing you can be sure about is that LED bulbs do not burn out, unlike other lighting solutions. Traditional bulbs also have a much shorter lifespan compared to LED lights as they last for around 1000 hours, whereas LEDs maintain their initial brightness for almost 10000 to 25000 hours. LEDs progressively dim over-use, and when they are at the end of their life, their light output lowers than 70% of the initial brightness.
So, it is best for you to consider replacing the conventional bulb solutions with LED lightings if it is in a place where it is difficult to replace frequently or installed in a hard-to-reach spot. This way, you do not have to replace it for your years as the LEDs with a rating of 25000 hours might last for almost 20 years if you use 3 hours a day approx.
Keep an eye for enclosed fixtures
You must have observed by now that LED bulbs give lesser heat compared to incandescent bulbs.
According to some reports and researches, in conventional incandescent bulbs, 90% of their energy is wasted as heat, and only 10% is used to produce light. On the other hand, LEDs produce their light with 95% of that energy, and only 5% is wasted as heat. This way, LED lights are the most efficient solution for any household.
One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that LEDs are more sensitive to heat, and they should not be used in completely enclosed fixtures. This is the reason why most people recommend you install them in open fixtures to allow better heat dissipation. So when you are replacing a bulb of an enclosed fixture with an LED light, make sure that the bulb is designed to be used in such places.
LEDs and dimmer switches
When you replace conventional bulbs with LEDs, you might also have thought of changing dimmer switches that are not compatible with LED lighting.
Most of the LED bulbs available in the market are dimmable. However, not all of them are compatible with traditional dimmers. It is best that you buy from sellers who can provide you with an extensive range of dimmable lights, along with compatible dimmers. You can also ask your seller before purchasing to ensure that the bulb you are buying is compatible with the dimmer switch off your house. When you buy dimmers that are specifically designed for LED applications, you will get optimal performance from your lighting solution. Also, using a dimmable LED with a non-compatible dimmer can cause a reduced range of dimming with buzzing.
Low voltage bulbs might not work with your existing transformer
While changing the bulbs of your house, make sure to keep in mind that the LED bulbs that you buy might not be compatible with the transformer that you have. This is because they use lesser power and certain transformers need a minimum wattage to work. This implies that you need to replace or alter your existing system to make the framework perform well.
If you are not here with what we have mentioned above, you can have a look at the example mentioned below –
A halogen track system that requires a minimum of 10 watts to work will not be suitable for an LED light of 7-watt. You will need to replace the system or add extra bulbs that will help to meet the minimum wattage requirement of the system.
You can have a word with your specialist before purchasing the LED bulbs for your house to make sure that the purchased lighting solution is compatible with your existing transformer.
Purchase ENERGY STAR®
LED bulbs that have the ENERGY STAR label are most reliable compared to the other available in the market as they have met and exceeded extensive tests that prove their reliability and energy efficiency. Not all LEDs are tested by ENERGY STAR!
Not sure what is ENERGY STAR? It is a joint government program started by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with the U.S. Department of Energy.
In case you do not find a LED bulb with ENERGY STAR, it is best that you purchase any non-ENERGY STAR LED from a reliable supplier to ensure complete support after your purchase is done.
So now that we are done with the steps that you need to follow and consider while buying LEDs for the interior and exterior of your house – let us go through a few tips that can make sure that you choose the best option for your home!
Effective tips on how to make your home interior look beautiful with LED lighting
LED lights are the best lighting solution to decorate a room of your house and illuminate it in the most appealing way. Whether it is your kitchen or bedroom, interior LED lightings are available in different styles to match the aura and theme of the surrounding.
Below we have mentioned a few effective tips for LED lighting placement for various rooms of your home. These are extremely helpful to make the home interior more attractive and intriguing with beautiful LED lights. Go through each one of them without missing any point so that you ace your game of illuminating your house.
Drawing room
This is one of the most used rooms in any house, irrespective of the number of people in the family. This is the space where your friends, relatives, guests gather and make them feel comfortable. So, to have a very cool and cozy, white LED bulbs are the best choice of lighting that can be used in the false ceiling of the room. LED strips of light of any color can also be used with the false ceiling to give a very unique and modern touch. This is the best way to create an aura of happiness and togetherness in your drawing-room.
Kitchen
For enhancing the look of your kitchen with interior LED lightings, you need to get wide-angle lights that can make it entirely illuminated with a clear view for ease in the tasks. Keep in mind that the sink and platform are the two areas of the kitchen where you need extra lighting to make sure that everything is clean and hygienic. To get an edge over others, you can add under cabinet lighting of bright colors. Narrow beam lights can be used in your kitchen to highlight the pantries of the counter area.
Add more sleekness to your kitchen with different color LED bulbs hanging above the chopping area or the shelf. This is one of the best ways you can induce uniqueness to the entire look and make it bind together.
Dining room
If you want to make your dining room look more appealing than others, then you can go for rotating light which primarily gives focus on the table. Another appropriate alternative is hanging or pendant lights that give the room a very classy and modern touch. All you need to keep in mind is that you always need to hang the pendant light at the correct height so that it does not create a disturbance while eating or doing other tasks.
Bedrooms
You do not need to have a lot of lighting in your bedroom. So you can go for accent lights that focus their lights on photo frames and art pieces to make it look more emphasized and illuminated. These kinds of light are also used in museums, historical buildings, and art shows as they are significant in making the pieces look more highlighted.
If you do not want to go for an accent light, then interior LED lighting of different colors can give a vivid essence to your bedroom for a cheerful touch.
Entries and stairs
When it comes to the lighting choices of the entry and stairs of your house, you need to be extremely considerate because it is an important aspect. You can make the entry of your house effective with good lighting strategy and planning. For this, you will need medium LED lighting, or you can go for a light dimmer switch that can help you manage and control the light intensity according to your needs.
The Bottom Line
Making your home look beautiful is the most important thing in the modern era. Switching to the right lighting options is the best way to do that. There are many types of lighting available in the market that ranges from incandescent lights to halogens. However, after going through a lot of trials and tests, it is proved that LED lights are the best lighting solution that can help you save a considerable amount of time along with being extremely efficient.
This guide will help you understand why LED lights are your ideal choice to make your home look beautiful and illuminated, along with saving money. You will get to know the right steps before making your purchase for interior LED lighting and exterior LED lighting so that you do not mess up during the course. Also, we have made a list of tips that can help you understand how and where you need to place your LED lights to make every room of your home look beautiful and appealing!
