The Eco Guide To Lighting Your Home

Trying to reduce your personal carbon footprint can be a real struggle at times, especially when it comes to your electrical output. With so many of our everyday household utility and leisure appliances dependent on the grid, bills are rising. One key thing you can do to help your home help the environment is invest in energy efficient lighting – an alternative to traditional incandescent lighting. Depending on the bulb and how often the light is used, these use anywhere from 25%-80% less energy and can last up to 25 times longer, report the US Department of Energy. Here’s an eco guide for which bulbs to use in which room to start saving electricity.

Eco Guide to the Bedroom

To light up the whole room ready to get dressed and start your day, a warm overhead lamp placed in the centre of the room can illuminate the whole space – a CFL bulb in a light coloured lampshade will take a short time to warm up, allowing our eyes time to adjust. For an extra eco alternative, install a dimmer switch to save on the electricity output while allowing you to customise the level of ambience. Add in an LED bedside or desk lamp in a medium to dark shade to soften the light for reading and working, and your whole room is kitted out.

Eco Friendly Bathroom

For bathrooms, LED spotlights are perfect to create functional areas of light that are bright, so helpful on weekday mornings. A single spotlight will do over the shower for smaller rooms, or add more in the centre of the room if you have more space. For vanity lighting, Forbes suggest placing two small sconce fittings either side of the mirror to evenly distribute the light all over your face, each a small LFL to minimise missed spots in shaving or makeup application.

Kitchen and Dining Room

In the kitchen, make sure that your worktops and stove are very well lit to avoid accidents, especially if you have children. Again, LED spotlights are perfect if your worktops are under cupboards, or an adjustable track light on the ceiling, so you can direct the light where you need it. To create a warm and welcoming ambience in a dining room, a couple of well-placed overhead lamps with warm CFL bulbs will light up the room without the stark brightness of a spotlight.