Lighting – wait until the light bulb burns out?

Ever wonder why you bother to upgrade computer hardware and software? Usually you make the investment, because technological advances cause your current system to become obsolete, even before it breaks down. Have you ever considered your lighting system in the same way? Well, often excellent electrical contractors do and you may stand to gain if you do the same.

How can advances in lighting technology have any personal impact on you? For one thing, consider one room in your house and what you use it for. There is no guarantee that the installed lighting system is meeting your needs, especially if you moved into your home and never really considered whether the light is best for the tasks you perform. Maybe you picked your lights because you were trying to create modern or contemporary look, but you weren’t considering everything an electrical contractor may consider important about lights.

Here are a few statements to test your ideas about lighting. Do you agree or disagree with them?

1. Lighting quality in a room is about the quantity of illumination that your lighting system provides.
2. Quantity of light your lighting system provides is the most important consideration.
3. Quality of light can affect productivity and a person’s visual comfort, mood and safety.
4. Factors like color, glare, occupant age, required visual acuity, and time spent performing tasks in a lit room are afterthoughts and you can make up for them with lamps if you don’t know how your current lighting system addresses these.
5. Bad lighting can negatively influence your perception of others in the room.
6. Bad lighting can negatively influence your productivity.
7. Proper lighting influences how long you want to stay in a room.

If you agree with #1, you’re partially correct. According to Thomas E. Glavinich, an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas, lighting quality also helps people perform visual tasks more effectively and efficiently than they would otherwise. If you disagree with #2, you’d be onto something, because it must be the right amount of light. If you agree with #3, good job. If you agree with #4, think again. All of these factors are important considerations and change over time or may never have been addressed in the installation of your lighting system. If you agree with #5, good job. If you agree with #6 and #7, you’ve got some bright ideas and likely are going to walk through your home later today and be a little more mindful of lighting your rooms.  Call an electrical contractor who can help you. You might see your results better!