It is that time of year again; back-to-school time. From now until mid-September, students are heading to college dorm rooms all across the country. In addition to dorm room rugs, televisions, video games, and computers, lighting is an essential addition to any dorm room’s décor. “Institutional dorm lighting is not exactly the most cheerful. Putting a few better light sources in your room can make the space much more pleasant,” says Naomi Rockler-Gladen of Suite101.com.
As we all know, school, work, social, and study schedules rarely match up between roommates. One potential area for disagreement is over the room’s lights. Either they are kept on most of the night or are turned on suddenly while one roommate is sleeping. However, wireless, energy-efficient LED lighting is a quick and inexpensive solution to help avoid these potential dorm room disasters.
Use an LED battery operated ceiling light to provide overhead task lighting that will not disturb your roommate’s sleeping habits. This easy-to-install light can be mounted to the top of a closet or armoire to help you pick out clothes in a dimly-lit dorm room, or loft study areas and desks for reading or writing. In addition to being easy to install, this LED light contains one bright white LED, lights up when motion is detected, shuts off automatically after 30 seconds, and only requires 4 C batteries to operate.
If you do not have a place to mount a task light over your desk or study area, consider a battery operated LED work light that can be attached to the side of your desk or loft. These lights are powered by 3 AAA batteries, have flexible necks allowing you to direct the light exactly where it is needed, and are lit by 8, 16, or 24 white LEDs.
To light up a dark dorm room floor so someone can safely and quietly enter the room at any hour, use a motion-activated, LED battery operated night light. This night light, with one bright white LED, is powered by 4 AA batteries and can be mounted using its adhesive backing to any surface in the dorm room. Moreover, it brightens when motion is detected, and turns off automatically after 30 seconds.
Finally, all students should carry in their car or have in their dorm room an LED battery operated trouble light. The LED trouble light can be easily held in your hand or hung to provide emergency lighting. It has a full power and power save mode, is powered by 3 AA batteries, includes a weatherproof on/off switch so it can be used outside, and its 60 LEDs are rated at 100,000 hours on average, or up to 30 years!
Each of these dorm room essentials are inexpensive and can be installed in minutes. They will not only brighten up your dorm room décor, but help to reduce any potential conflict because each light provides focused illumination that will not disturb a roommate. Finally, they are all portable, allowing you to remove them at the end of your term to be used again.