Lighting design

Good, efficient lighting design uses a mixture of lighting types to meet a home's different lighting needs.

When designing your lighting, think about the different tasks that you do in each area of your home to determine how best to light them.

Your lighting needs

Having an overall lighting plan is an important first step. Most homes require:

  • general or ambient lighting for all-over illumination
  • task lighting to light specific work or activity areas (such as food preparation, hobby work or reading areas)

  • accent lighting to create a mood or highlight a feature.

Designing your lighting

It's a good idea to incorporate efficient lighting into the design and planning of your home when renovating or building. This way you can minimise the up front cost and maximise the long-term benefits. Make use of natural light - particularly from north-facing windows. Find out more about building and renovating.

Visit the RightLight website to use their virtual lighting design tool.
For detailed advice, consult a professional lighting designer or lighting supplier.

Choose the right lighting

Different tasks need different lights - so choose lights that do the right job for you.

  • Use compact fluorescent lamps for general room lighting. They come in a range of looks and colours, and are 75% more efficient than traditional light bulbs.
  • Use task lighting where you need sharp visual clarity around what you're doing. This is good for places such as food preparation areas and around the bathroom mirror. And it will save you having to put bright lighting throughout the entire room.
  • Think twice about downlights. They're good for task lighting, but not for general household lighting. You need several halogen downlights to get the same light coverage as one surface mounted light of the same amount of illumination. Recessed downlights also allow heat to escape directly into the ceiling space.

  • Create ambience with uplights and wall lighting. Use ambient (mood) lighting in living and dining areas. There is now a more versatile selection of lamps and bulbs available. These can achieve an attractive, lower-energy alternative to your general room lighting Use soft lighting outdoors. You can create ambience and use less lighting by just highlighting a few key features. This can also prevent the potential for glare.

Use your lights efficiently

  • Take note of lamp shades. If a room is too dim, it might be the light fittings or shades, not the bulbs themselves. A lot of lamp shades look great but block a lot of light from the bulb.
  • Clean light fittings and shades regularly. You could be surprised how much brighter a light seems in the shade isn't dusty.
  • Only turn on the lights when you need them. Switch them off when you leave the room or don't need them any more. No modern bulbs use more electricity starting up than they do leaving them on for a few seconds.
  • Save electricity with control devices. Use movement sensors and timers so your lighting is on only when you need it.
  • Ask the professionals. Consult an experienced lighting designer for efficient, effective lighting solutions to suit your home or workplace.

More information

 

From the Resource Centre

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