Many things about home building are more exciting and more efficient than they were 10 to 15 years ago. From heating and cooling options to kitchen and bathroom tile choices, manufacturers offer more products that are both environmentally friendly and easy to maintain. And while the tiles that you select for your new kitchen backsplash may be the showcase of that space, the interior lighting design that you select is important as well. In fact, a lighting design company can help you create task, mood, and protective lighting that is far more important in the long run than many of the other decisions that you will make when building a new home.
Working with a representative from a lighting design company can also help you to understand how to take advantage of the latest and most energy efficient options for either your home or business. Consider these facts and figures about the interior and exterior lighting design decisions that are available and how they impact the energy costs in your home:
- Lighting accounts for nearly 11% of the energy used in residential buildings, and 18% of the energy used in commercial buildings.
- Estimates indicate that 68% of employees complain about the lighting situation in their offices, according to a study conducted by the American Society of Interior Design.
- The LED bulbs marked 2700-2900K produce a warm-yellow light; For a whiter light, LED bulbs marked 3000-4100K produce a whiter light; and LED bulbs marked 4200-6500K produce a bluer light.
- Test participants with office windows got a startling 46 minutes more sleep a night than their natural light-starved counterparts. These workers with office windows even reported getting more exercise once they left work.
- Half of the homeowners who are upgrading their outdoor spaces spend six or more hours in these locations every week. Relaxing, entertaining, and gardening are the top three uses for these outdoor spaces.
- Energy efficient lighting choices help limit a home or business owner’s utility bill, as well as do less damage to the environment.
- Real estate agents understand the power of lighting, as they typically ask home sellers to leave all of the lights on before a potential buyer walks through.
- Efficiency ratings for the newest light fixtures can eventually cover the added extra cost of some of the fixtures.
- By setting the lighting in a home to timers or dimmers, a house looks beautiful 24 hours a day, with minimal effort on the part of the owner.
- Expert real estate agents not only encourage sellers to pay attention to the lighting inside a home, nearly 90% of these real estate agents also encourage homeowners to invest in landscaping prior to selling a property.
- Letting a lighting design company work with you from the beginning is always a good idea. It is fairly inexpensive, for instance to add more lighting during the initial building process when compared to adding these features at a later date.
- In the statistics from the Department of Energy, the research indicates that approximately 22% of all electricity generated in the U.S. is used for lighting, while nearly 10% of that is used to power outdoor lighting applications.
- Ground lighting that is aimed up to illuminate towering evergreens in a yard has a string visual impact.
- Home resale values can increase by 14% with new landscaping, including the necessary lighting.
- Taking the time to pay attention to the small details recommended by a lighting design company can have a big impact on the appeal of a home.