Thursday, December 30, 2010

Energy Efficient Home Lighting Design

With the new year, we are down to twelve months before the first of the government mandated reduction of incandescent light bulbs will go into effect. While I agree that lighting is one of the biggest energy hogs in the home, it is also the most necessary of the energy uses. You can use propane or natural gas for cooking, heating and water, but the days of gas lamps is gone. So what is the best way to provide lighting in your home?

First, lets talk about using natural lighting during the daylight hours. The proper use of windows, window treatments and skylights can significantly reduce the use of artificial lighting during the day. Southern exposure windows are effective for lighting the rooms and for moderating seasonal temperatures, thus not only allowing for better lighting, but reduced energy use in heating your home in the fall, winter and early spring months. Northern facing windows product little glare and limited solar heating during the summer months. Eastern and western windows use should be limited to certain times during the day. Automatic window treatments, which use an astronomic clock will open and close as the sun moves during the day, allowing the most light into the room, but keeping solar heat to the minimum. Effective use of daylighting will not only reduce energy costs, but will make your home aesthetically appealing and livable.

After you have optimized daylight harvesting, now we need to turn to lighting design for your home. First, more light is not necessarily better. We need better light quality, not just quantity. That is why I don't recommend fluorescent and Compact Fluorescent (CFL's) for daily task lighting. We must match the amount and quantity of light to the room or purpose. Kitchens and baths require more light than family rooms and bedrooms. Lighting needs to be layered, thus in the kitchen for example, an overhead four lamp fluorescent for general lighting, recessed fixtures with dimmable halogens to highlight the room on a dimmer for ambiance, plus LED under cabinet fixtures for task lighting. Over an island pendent fixtures with LED or incandescent lamps controlled by a dimmer allow for a complete lighting package for the room. To control the energy use, a lighting control system can be installed that limits the wattage level, turns off after a certain amount of time or when no one is in the room.

We have found that the use of CFL's in closets, basements, and other limited use areas can be effective. Yes, CFL's are improving and there are replacements available for standard light fixtures. However, they are not the cheap lamps that the utilities are giving away or you can purchase for $1.98 from the "marts". These cheap lamps have a limited life, very poor lighting quality and you really get what you pay for. A good warm CFL lamp that is dimmable will cost upwards to $12 or $15.00. A better choice would be LED's. They are coming down in price, have an excellent life expectancy and can be dimmed without the flashing and turning red associated with CFL's. Even better, would be to use Thomas Edison's perfectly good light source, the incandescent lamp on a dimmer. We also suggest that you install residential occupancy sensors in closets, hallways, basements and other light traffic areas.

Lastly, consult a qualified lighting designer to make the most of your lighting experience. If you are building new, consider using a whole house lighting system which will allow you to control your lighting from your smartphone, internet, and touchscreens throughout the house. COnsider using a mix of incandescent, CFL and LED to make the most of your lighting needs and to take advantage of energy savings. If you are retrofitting your home, using a lighting designer will allow you to take advantage of both their experience, plus add your own taste and style to your home. Various lighting controls can be added from wall box dimmers to room and whole house control.

Elite Systems Solutions offers free in home lighting audits, design and lighting control installations.