Dear members,


Tips on Lighting.

Cleaning Fixtures to Improve Light Quality

Well-balanced lighting is vital for our comfort, for efficient work, and for our health. The quality and quantity of light can affect the speed at which we read or work. It can also affect our mood, especially in winter when sunshine is scarce.

Follow these basic cleaning and maintenance suggestions for optimal light quality:

Clean your light fixtures and lamps every 6 to 24 months. Dirty light fixtures may absorb light instead rather than transmitting it into the room. Yet your lights will continue to draw full power. Replace lenses if they appear yellow.

Clean your windows in the fall before the onset of winter, and arrange your curtains so they are easy to open in the daytime. This will help your windows transmit as much of the winter sun as possible, and will allow you to use daylight rather than electric lights during the day.

Use light-colored paints when re-decorating your home. Much of the light we use in our homes is reflected from the objects around us. Therefore the more reflective the surfaces around us, the more light we have for visual tasks. For the best light quality, select light paint colors for walls and flat white for ceilings. Then use smaller lights if needed to soften the light in the room.

Clean the walls and ceilings of your home every one to three years. Built-up dirt reduces the reflectance of these surfaces and consequently reduces light levels. This can reduce total illumination by 50 percent or more.

Source: John Krigger, Saturn Resource Management (www.residential-energy.com)