Lighted ceiling fans are making their debut today in our “How To Choose Light Bulbs For Your Home” series. (Catch up on our tips for table/floor lamps here, and here for recessed light fixtures).

Ceiling fans with light fixtures are installed for a lot of different reasons. Before you choose light bulbs to go in yours, you need to think about what purpose it serves.

Is it the sole source of light in the entire room? First and foremost, we would recommend remedying that by adding a lamp or two, or perhaps a few recessed lights. Lighting serves multiple purposes in a room, and it’s pretty impossible for one light fixture to do it all.

If that’s not possible, or you’re just not willing to devote more money to your lighting budget at this time, then you’ll need to make sure you can get as much illumination as possible out of the ceiling fan. Take a close look at lumen output of the light bulbs you’re considering – anything less than 800 lumens (the equivalent of a standard 60-watt incandescent light bulb) won’t do it. For more information about lumen output, see here. Continue reading »

Architect Louis Kahn once said, “Just think, that man can claim a slice of the sun.” What a beautiful way to describe lighting!

Of course, choosing light bulbs for your home doesn’t always feel so empowering, because there’s a little bit of leg work to get there. The finished product is what you’re looking for: A room with lighting that’s just right and adaptable to any situation, whether you’re entertaining, relaxing, or working around the house. Do you envision sophisticated light fixtures with dimmer controls, sparkling chandeliers, decorative pendants, or all of the above?

This post is the first in a new series that will help you realize that vision. After all, every light fixture needs a light bulb. We’ll start with the easiest category – table and floor lamps …

Chances are, your household lamps take the classic “A-lamp” shaped light bulb. You have a few options here:

• You can stick with the tried and true incandescent light bulb, making sure to comply with the maximum wattage specified on the lamp. You’ll get a good amount of light output, but there’s a whole lot of heat that comes with it, and it’s as about as inefficient as you can find. Read on if you want to branch out to something a little more energy bill friendly.
• The halogen light bulb is ideal for those incandescent lovers out there. It’s actually a type of incandescent – it just has a bit of halogen gas added inside the glass envelope of the lamp to lengthen the lifetime a little. The thing is, halogen lamps still give off a lot of heat, and the strides in efficiency are not very far. Still, halogen A-lamps are good alternatives to standard incandescent lamps. Continue reading »