How to choose light bulbs

Have you ever wondered what kind of light bulbs you should be buying? Me too. Since people usually tour houses during the day, when there is plenty of natural light builders put very little thought into the light fixtures beyond providing basic ambient light sources. Which means the home you just bought might be a little darker and eerier in tone than you expected them to be. So now you have no choice but to change your fixtures, but what kind of light do you need to fix the feel of the space?

	Types of lightbulbs
Compact Fluorescent  Lightbulbs	Common light bulbs, these tend to be energy efficient. Good for ambient lighting.
LED	Are directional lights, meaning they cast more concentrated light instead of dispersing light. This makes them good for task and accent light lighting. LED bulbs are more expensive but much more energy efficient. LED can last up to 10 times longer than compact fluorescents and around 40 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
Incandescent	These are specialty bulbs. They mostly aren’t longer produces, being highly inefficient. They were used mostly for chandeliers and can still be found.  Also, you can find compatible CFL or LED bulbs that are compatible if you can’t get incandescent. You can find old vintage bulbs that still work for the aesthetic.
Halogen	Halogen light bulbs are made to imitate natural light, making them good for ambient and for an artistic task and accent lighting. Very energy efficient and affordable.

If you are wondering about regular fluorescent lights bulbs I wouldn’t recommend using them in a residential space. I’m not sure how you’d install them in a residential space. If I walked into a home and there was office grade fluorescent lighting I would immediately backpedal because that’s the sign of a serial killer.

Lumens - the amount of light emitted from a light bulb. More lumens equal brighter light, fewer lumens equals dimmer light. Standard 100-watt bulbs produce about 1600 lumens.

Watts - the amount of energy a light bulb uses. The lower the watts, the lower the electric bill. CFLs and LEDs have a lower wattage than incandescent bulbs but emit the same light output.

Compact Fluorescent	LED	Incandescent	Halogen
23-watt	14/16-watt	100-watt	72-watt
20-watt	12/13-watt	75-watt	53-watt
15-watt	8/9-watt	60-watt	43-watt

Wattage Conversion: this chart shows the same amount of lumen output.

Delana Cotton servers the northeast Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.