A house or any particular room can be carefully planned, well thought out and perfectly executed but without the proper lighting it never really comes to life. A perfect example is a tile back splash in a kitchen. Without some nice under cabinet lighting to show it off it never really reaches it's potential as an eye opener.

As you plan each room there are three basic forms of lighting. General Lighting - which light you need in a room to function. A means to safely navigate the room in the dark of night. Accent Lighting - light that highlights a particular item or items of importance to you or the room design. Task lighting - light that serves a function related to a particular task or area where work is performed.

A kitchen benefits most from all three forms of lighting in most cases. Recessed lighting combined with a pendant or two and possibly a ceiling fan can provide the general lighting. Under cabinet lighting serves two functions. It acts as Task lighting for working on the countertop as well as Accent lighting to highlight that beautiful countertop and back splash. Additional accent lighting can be added in glass cabinets, which really brings them to life. In some cases where crown molding is installed and there is space above some cove lighting can create a wonderful effect and ambience to a room.

In a living room a couple of well placed wall washers can turn an fireplace wall that seemed ordinary into a piece of art. Perhaps you are planning on a wall to display photos or a collection of art posters. Wouldn't it be nice to light that independently and show it off? Along with the lighting, the way in which they are switched is almost as important. A room with 9 recessed lights that all come on at once lacks forethought.

In any room by breaking the lights that are switched into sections or patterns and through the use of dimmers, a room can take on many personalities and moods. When considering switches it is also important to consider traffic flow through the house. There is nothing worse than a setup where you have to go back and turn a light off only to proceed in the dark. With the proper planning and use of 3 way and 4 way switches the house can be so much more user friendly.

If you find this info useful let me know and I can keep going.............and going..........and going lol

PLEEEZZZZZE keep going and going and going. The More - The Better! I enjoyed seeing your website as well! It really let me SEE what a difference there is when you add some lighting in the right place. I love the before/after pic's--they're priceless ! I think seeing it may have made my electric bill go up significantly...but Oh Well, the finished product will be astounding.
I have GOT to get my lighting/electrical figured out. I promise to hang on every word you type ! And I thank you for taking the time to do so!

At this stage of my career if a builder says we are putting 5 recessed lights here a switch there a hanging light there, etc and doesn't want my input, I won't continue working for him because I know I am not giving the customer the best job they can have. There is nothing more rewarding for me than to have a customer tell me after they have used the house, I am so glad you suggested that light over the sink I use it all the time or that switch next to my bed for reading. That is what it's all about for me.

We haven't broke ground yet but met with our electrician last night for three hours. I cannot tell you how much we appreciated meeting with him, going over our plans, him showing us different lights, switches, setup, etc. in his home. We also now know what to expect and how to think about things when doing the walk-thru. This also gave us both reassurance that the bid he's giving us is fairly accurate. We know we'll add things during the walk-thru but we made probably 90% of the decisions last night.

I highly recommend people meet with their electricians prior to breaking ground. You can go overbudget very quickly if you have no idea of what you're getting into as there are an endless number of options.

Kris

There are many ways to get good effect and still save energy. Using halogen bulbs in high hats, maintaining manufacturers recomendations for wattage of course, you can get the same light while reducing wattage. A 50 watt halogen flood will give you the same if not more light than an 85 watt incandescent, not to mention you will get better true color rendering and the bulbs will last 3 or 4 times longer.

Dimmers of today, unlike old rheostat dimmers actually reduce electric usage when dimming lights. One often overlooked place to save a great deal is outdoor lighting. Most homes have one or two exterior lights that remian on 12 hours a night. In my area those 2 100 watt bulbs cost $100 a year combined. By installing a 25 watt fluorescent bulb in each I can save $50, not to mention I won't have to change the bulb for about 3 years.

There are some great products on the market today that can be very helpful as well. Digital timers can be set so lights do not remain on for a longer period than necessary and motion detectors both outside and indoors can prevent lights from being left on. The indoor motion detectors which take the place of a switch can be very benificial if you have children.

Having a 2" PVC pipe run from an attic to a basement can prove useful for the future as well. Ten years agao we would not have known that cat 5 would be the cable of choice for our computers. A few years down the road there may be some new type of wiring needed and with this conduit you can have it run more easily.

Landscape lighting should also be given thought. Most times this is left out of the house plans. By giving it a little thought you can have some switches installed with a box outside to add outdoor landscape lighting. Two switches and one box outside is all that is needed in most cases.

Some ideas/examples:

1.Overall (whole house) scenes such as Entertaining, Dining, Relaxing, Romance, Morning, etc. Individual (room) scenes such as read, dress, bath, relax, accent, etc.

2. You can set up a nightlighting scene or to to light the path to children's rooms or a bathroom at night. The lights would be set very dim in select places so that you are not blinded in the middle of the night.

3. You can interface with motion detectors, garage door openers, alarm system, etc.

4. All On button for bumps in the night.

5. All Off next to the bed and door to the garage mean no lights left on.

Another couple of ideas:

1. Use door jamb switches for close closets that turn lights on-off when door is opened-closed.

2. If you don't want fluor. floodlights, use halogen and put them on a dimmer.

3. Add a few switched receptacles in ideal places for table and floor lamps. Some folks even dim these, but if you plan to do that, I'd use a single receptacle instead of a duplex and have the nameplate labeled. Don't want to dim the tv!

When trying to light rooms with an old look there are so many great light fixtures out there. Wall sconces are a good way to light a room like this. Ceiling fixtures in hallways can be decorative. Cove lighting adds a wonderful touch while taking nothing away from the look of the room.

Even the exterior lighting on houses of this nature can be well lit without disturbing the flow. Carefully placed lighting in the landscape hidden by shrubbery can have a stunning effect on the house in the dark.

So just because your house is a classic and you want to keep the look doesn't mean you have to live in the dark. It just takes a little more consideration and thought put into it.

Most large home stores and even a lot of lighting stores seem to overlook this little detail on a regular basis. When you do choose a bulb don't assume the fixture can take only one kind of bulb. There are usually several options and some can make a huge difference in the overall appearence of the fixture. As an example, on a pair of wall sconces with bulbs that are exposed in a candle like setting, a set of wax covered candelabra bulbs give a wonderful effect and eliminate the associated glare found with ordinary clear bulbs. I think spun-glo bulbs are the name.

Ceiling fan light kits can look so much better with smaller special fan bulbs or tear drop style bulbs. Take a few minutes more to browse the bulbs for your fixture and you will end up with a lighting fixture that is a touch above the rest.

They are just putting the deck on our house this week, so electrical will be a few weeks away. This is our third custom house (probably our last). My dad was an electrician decades ago, and I remember lots of hints from him. The kitchen will be the focus in this house. We are having multiple circuits in the kitchen for all my "heat seeking" countertop appliances. I plan for lots of recessed lighting as well as undercounter. We have 10 foot ceilings in the kitchen so I'm wondering if over the island I should go with a ceiling-mounted fixture (I just saw a gorgeous, florescent with paintable frame yesterday) or a double pendant. Will the pendant require special mounting (longer chains, etc) because of the higher ceilings? Would the ceiling mounted fixture be too high to be effective? My KD turned up his nose at the florescent light idea, but actually I LOVE florescent light in the kitchen, so see no problem myself. (he isn't supplying lighting, so he won't make anything) Plus the focal point of the kitchen (a custom designed range hood) is framed on the opposite wall by an open view from the family room, and the pendant hanging in the middle might obstruct that.

Something I didn't see mentioned above is floor receptacles. In today's open floor plans (kitchen, dining, living all in one big area) furniture arrangement often requires seating to be moved away from walls. I plan to have two floor receptacles installed in our family room (one at each end) so I can plug in floor/table lamps without stretching cords across traffic areas. Any comments or suggestions?

Finally, we have two sets of antique wall sconces we've had for years. I'm considering putting one set in the dining room and the other on each side of our bed. Aside from making sure their wiring is up to code, is there anything we should consider?

Thanks SO MUCH for your input in an area many take for granted or don't give enough thought to.

I've gotten to know our electrician quite intimately (just kidding!). But we do have a good rapport and I "hang" on his every suggestion and recommendation. He calls me; I call him. You must be a lot like him as far as your concern for the homeowner goes. After all, that is who will be living with the decisions, NOT the GC!

The above poster mentioned floor receptacles. I also plan to have one or two installed in the great room. When I talked to the electrician about where to place it/them, he suggested that, since we have a crawl space and will have wood floors, we wait until we have the furniture arranged (and most probably RE-arranged!) and then decide where to put the receptacle(s). Does that sound like a good plan?

Thanks for your advice...keep it up! :)

msetwin, Everything you said sounded good. Pertaining the pendants vs. the fluorescent here is what I think. First is the 10 foot ceiling is not a problem in either case, with the pendants most can be purchased with different downrod lengths. As to whether the pendants would obstruct the view, it really depends on how large they are. You can get some sleek fixtures that compliment the whole picture. The bottom line is that you said you love fluorescent light. That said it is your house and if you want that then you should get what you like. The only downside I see is the mixture of light. Having the fluorescent on with the incandescent recessed lighting can have a strange look.

As for the floor receptacles, I don't know what type of floor, but be sure you put enough thought into it. They can of course be covered with a blank that they come with in the event you don't use them but you probably wouldn't like them in the middle of your floor. Overall with furniture away from the wall it's a great idea. The antique wall sconces I think is woderful. About 70" off the floor center is a typical installation. Make sure they are available to the electrican prior to rough as there are 3 different boxes that can be used and it helps to know beforehand.

If I can make one suggestion. Since you do like fluoresent lights you may want to consider using them for under cabinet lights. Todays new fluorescents with electronic ballasts and thin bulbs make them much more attractive. They also produce more lumens per watt than incandescents, are economical and the bulbs last a long time. That said, it may not suit your kicthen design and will probobaly piss off your KD even more LOL.

The reason this can be helpful and avoid unecessary damage later is for instance. Say in a bathroom you are going to have a wall sconce on either side of a mirror. I can make an assumption that a one lamp fixture will fit within a 10" area. Later I come to install the fixture only to find a 12" wide 2 lamp fixture that will now hit the wall. When I am in the rough stage I can be a pain and ask a million questions because I want to avoid this scenario, but it slows me down. It's a lot easier if you do your homework ahead of time in the planning stages.

This doesn't mean you have to purchase and store the fixtures ahead of time, you can just get the specs because that is all that is needed. The same applies for all other elctrical needs like appliances. The specs on the Range if it is electric, or any other electrical appliances in the kitchen. In some cases the builder will be supplying these and it is his responsibility.

Another thing and this I think will never change. Ask who is doing the control wiring on the job. I can't tell you how many times the AC and Heating contractor assume the thermostat and associated wiring will be done by the electrician only to have the electrician assume the heating and AC contractors are doing it. Then it is discovered nobody did it and no one charged for it!

The positive attributes of halogen light is it is a crisp clean white light with excellent CRI (color rendering index). I usually say it shows things in their true color. It is also more efficient than an incandescent so you can get more light with less wattage. On the downside they do burn hot, however used in the proper fixture with the proper wattage, this is not a problem.

Best area to use halogen lighting? Well I will tell you my opinion here for what it's worth. If you are lighting an object, such as a painting or expensive vase, They are great for the crisp light and good CRI. Some kitchens I think need them, while others I would not necessarily want them. When the cabinest are a light color halogen light tends to show the cabinets as they are while incandescents cast a yellowish tone. If the wood cabinets or furniture are darker than oak I feel incandescents look better. I have a ceramic tile floor in my living room. It looks so much better under halogen recessed lights than incandescents. I tried it both ways.

If you have any recessed or track lighting in your home now, get one halogen bulb that you could try. For example if you have a 75 or 100 watt flood, get a 50 watt halogen flood and try it. I think you will be surprised at the difference.

There are other options, not to confuse you. First is a product made by GE called Reveal bulbs. They replace standard light bulbs and floods. Frankly I haven't tried any but I am going to see if I can get one this week. They are supposed to have better CRI than a standard incandescent. I will let you all know what I find out.

Another option, and depending on where you live, possibly a law. i.e. Ca. Compact fluorescents can replace most types of light bulbs. The CRI on these is quite good on the better quality bulbs. You do have to do your homework though. There has been such an explosion in manufacturing these in recent years that there is a lot of crap out there to weed through. If you need to save on your electric bills, these are by far the best way to go. I am not particularly fond of them and use them mostly in purely functional situations like outdoors, basements, closets etc.

The undercabinet lights. There are a few to choose from. The link below will show you the type I like for our high end installations. BTW I don't get anything if you buy these Task lights although I wish I did the way I recommend them to people. One point when looking into undercabinet lighting. Don't overlook fluorescent. Many people have the misconception that UC fluorescents are those ugly bulky fixtures our parents or grandparents had in the kitchen. The newer fixtures are nothing like that. They are slim and bright and efficient.

Hope that was helpful

You mentioned the bulbs in your fluorescents lasting so long. This is true but here is a tip. Fluoresecent bulbs don't just go out, they slowly diminish. It is a good idea to change them about once a year or every two years tops. Past that point you will not be getting the light you should and put undue strain on the ballast.

The advantage and disadvantages are with track you can move the heads to wherever you need them. So if you redecorate you can adjust the light. On the other hand track lighting can sometimes take the focal point away from where it belongs. I am not sure how many quilts you are talking about. If it is a few walls and you know an approximate average size of them, you can put recessed cans in advance in the ceiling.

Thanks so much for contributing your expertise to this forum. I've been avidly reading your comments here and in the Kitchens forum.

I, too, have a bathroom question. We're putting in a six-foot counter with two bowls. I'm considering have one long sheet mirror, but I'm not certain how to light it. If the "vanity lights" are bright enough (say 100 or 120 watts in each fixture), is it possible to light a 5-foot wide mirror adequately at the sides? Or do I need to go with lights above the mirror? (The bathroom will also have a central ceiling fixture and a recessed shower light, BTW.)

Also, can you recommend a source or brand for the slim line flourescents with good CRI?

Thanks!

Fluorescent undercabinet light brands. There are quite a number of companies that make these lights for UC use. GE makes a decent product and is reasonably priced. (they did have a recall of their 1999 UC lights on a side note) Kichler is good although I don't like the lens on that brand. Lightolier, good but expensive. Two things you want in whatever brand you choose other than quality of course. A thin, no more than 1" tall fixture and a lens that is wide so you get the maximum amount of light from the fixture. The type of light is dependant on the bulb and you can get bulbs to replace what they come with if your not happy ver easily. For instance if the fixture takes a 13 watt T-5 you could search the internet and find good bulbs to replace them with.

Chances are you will be happy with the bulbs that come with most fixtures. Today's fluorescents and bulbs are so much better than they were 10 years ago.

When I did my elec layout I mentally walked through the entire floor plan from every direction possible, stopping to figure where switches needed to go. It was well worth the time. Even put 2 3 ways at garage door so I could turn on garage lites from inside house or in garage or the hall light going in to kitchen from either location.

Yes it costs a little more - but not much in the whole scheme of things. I may have missed this - read kind of fast - don't forget wire for audio/video.

Hope this continues. Lot's of GOOD info here.

Mizzou makes a good point that we should repeat now and then. The use and placement of switching when developing the lighting plan.

I added something else tonight that I think is not given much thought. Switch and receptacle colors. The choices given are usually the basic white, ivory or almond. With some of the great finishes today in painting and all the color schemes for kitchens it is nice to have colors that match better. Most times these are not even offered to the customer. Check these colors out and let me know if you knew they existed.

I have just one question (or two....)
Halogens, how much heat to they put out?
Comperable to what?
Overall will the heat gain to the interior of the
home effect the comfort?
I have heard a little about LED lighting, but have not
had time to do any research on them.
What are your thoughts on LED lighting?

One or two questions.. oh well..

I recommend C.F.'s less heat output, less energy usage,
and long life. However they are not the answer in all
lighting situations.
Thanks for taking the time to educate us all!!

Thanks for the education you are providing to all of
us.

Energy Rater,
Halogen bulbs burn about twice as hot as incandescents at the filament. This is off the top of my head but if memory serves correct an incandescent burns at about 3000 deg F while a halogen is around 5000. In the case of a halogen though, the filament is enclosed in a small quartz capsule and then enclosed in glass. This is because if it were enclosed in only glass the glass would actually melt.

How much effect they have on the ambient temperature of a room is dependent on how many there are and how close they are to the floor. If there were enough, yes they would have some effect.

LED lighting is something that hasn't really taken off yet. I have not had experience with it other than some energy saving bulbs they make for exit signs now. It seems on the surface to be a good idea but I haven't seen it used in the recessed lighting application yet. Honestly I need to do some more research on this topic as well.

If you want to see an example of a fan with up lighting here is a link to one, but I am sure there are more types as well.

I have a friend who had a floor lamp with a halogen
bulb near her front door. One evening when guests
were leaving they smelled smoke and the heat from
the halogen had ignited some bugs that were inside
of the floor lamp.
After dumping the smoking bug bodies and laughing at her
bad housekeeping habits, she decided that it was a fire
hazard and got rid of the lamp.

Given the temp. of the bulb and this statement
"In the case of a halogen though, the filament is enclosed in a small quartz capsule and then enclosed in glass. This is because if it were enclosed in only glass the glass would actually melt."
would NOT that consitute a fire hazard?

Temperature of bulb MELTS glass...no thanks
I'll stick to C.F.'s anyday!!!

Saltbox.

I love old homes and would love to see your house.

Some examples of these are having a 3 wire run from the switch at the top of the stairs for the basement, run into the basement for a future 3 way switch. If the electric panel is not in the basement, have a couple of circuits run down there for future use. The same goes for an attic or upstairs room that may be finished later. Think about having cable and telephone in those places as well.

Another idea is to place some outside receptacles on switches. This can be especially helpful if you like holiday lighting. Which brings another point to mind. Timers that take the place of a switch are very well made and not an eyesore as they once were. Smarthome technology is another venue to control the lighting. Not only can this technology provide convenience but safety as well. You pull into your driveway and it's late and the outside lights are not on. From your car you can turn on the lights both outside and in the foyer adding a whole new level of control. If your interested in this subject I can cover it more.

There are a number of ways a backup generator can be addressed. There are portables which is the cheapest alternative. These still need a transfer panel of some sort and a plug and cord set. Another type of generator is an automatic setup. This would be a generator that turns on automatically when the power goes out. These can also run on propane gas from tanks.

Depending on the size of the generator, it can run just a few select items like the boiler, fridge, freezer and some key lights to everything to keep life as normal when the power is out. The price range is wide. Portables can run from $500 to $2000 while automatics can run from $4000 to $10,000. There is additional costs involved in the electrical work required. Anytime a generator is going to be tied into the electrical system it is imperative that it be installed by a qualified electrician. Doing an improper job could cause serious injury or death to Utility workers.

Even if your not going to install it at the building stage, a good idea is to set up some circuits for key areas to be seperate so later they can be controlled easily from a back up system.

This even goes for lighting fixtures to a degree. If a house has a lot of hanging pendants or chandeliers they can be very easy installations to very difficult. If I am forced to guess I have to go on the more elaborate side because some can be very time consuming.

The point I am trying to drive home here is by doing some extra legwork in the early stages you can avoid either an overpriced estimate or surprises with extras later on by getting a fairly accurate estimate. If you are getting several estimates this becomes even more important. It's impossible to compare apples to apples if everyone doing the estimate is using their imagination to price the job.