How to Choose Between Different Types of Lighting

The performance of your lighting affects everything else about the room it is in. Choosing the right kind of lighting helps to assure that you get the ambiance and the physical presence that you need to create an attractive living or work environment.

Of course nowadays you also have choices that save energy, reducing the cost of lighting your rooms and events. Here is what you need to know about different types of lighting so that you can make an informed decision about your next investment.

 LED Lighting

The best choice for lighting commercial and trade show environments, as well as the home space is usually an LED lighting option. Compared to incandescent bulbs, LED lighting uses up to 90% less power without any loss in performance. LED lights even use less than compact fluorescent lights (CLFs) by a factor of two.

Pricing can seem a bit steep at first, but the length of time these lights last more than pays for the upfront investment. You get the maximum performance as soon as you need it - LED needs no warm up time to produce its lighting. And because LED produces light through the natural movement of electrons, they are completely free of toxic materials such as mercury and come in an extensive color temperature range.

Choose between LED recessed lighting, LED lamps and light bulbs, LED stem lights or LED backlighting. There is something for every application.

 Halogen Lighting

Halogen bulbs are a more efficient form of incandescent lighting. They give off an attractive warm-white light that can often dim according to your preference without highly specialized equipment.

Choose halogen lighting when you need a powerful option for staging or large rooms. Halogen lighting is available in 12V and 120V stem lights, recessed lights and track lighting.

 Fluorescent Lighting

Fluorescent light is created from an inert argon gas that interacts with a small amount of mercury. The current that flows through the tube causes the gas to glow, which is a powerful option for display backlighting, or in workshops, basements or other work areas. You also get around 20 times the lifespan of a traditional incandescent bulb, or around 20,000 hours of quality performance on average.

These lights are incredibly cost efficient without any loss in quality. One of the most interesting facts about fluorescent lighting is that it produces very little heat energy, so you can use as many of them as you like without creating an uncomfortable temperature in the room.

An extremely popular and effective option of fluorescent lighting is the compact fluorescent bulb (CFL). CFLs give you 10 times as much of a lifespan as an incandescent bulb while spending about 70% less energy. Although CFLs can be a bit more expensive, they will lower your electric bills in the long run.

 Track Lighting

Track lighting is a favorite option for special interior design. In most cases, track lights are used to create a dispersed ambience that gives you focused lighting on kitchen islands, work desks or bathroom sinks. They are also use in display environments under double decks, or even attached to truss systems.

Track lighting is always a wise choice for large areas. It’s easy to supply power to a large number of light fixtures when they are all connected to a track versus being powered individually.  There is a wide variety of options available for track lighting. There are great options for creating the appropriate length of the tracks, the intervals between the heads can be adjusted and fine -tuned, and in most cases a variety of light bulbs can be implemented to create just the right effect.