Process of Illumination ; The Right Lighting Can Make Your House Truly Homey

The basic idea of home lighting is straightforward: Create a pleasing light level all around you in a room and throughout the home, provide additional task

lighting for work and play, and in the winter, brighter is better.

Layers of light

To achieve the most satisfactory effect, use combinations of general, task and ambient lighting throughout the home, says Susan Mason, builder sales and lighting design manager of The Lighting Center of Springfield Electric.

General lighting illuminates an entire room. Task lights brighten specific areas for reading, eating, working at the computer or cooking. Ambient lighting accents coves and brightens artwork. Combine at least two levels in various room settings, using indirect and direct light sources, for what Mason calls attractive "layers of light."

"Over the years, the trend has changed from people shopping for a fixture to creating an atmosphere, a lighting effect throughout the entire home," Mason says.

Combine chandeliers, track lights, recessed lights, pendants and more to create effective and artistic results without glare. Uplighting a ceiling from above the cabinetry or behind crown molding, for example, provides indirect light and can make a space feel taller. Shining a light against a wall can make a space seem bigger.

And in winter, Mason says, adding light to the home is even more important.

"Coming home in the evening, when it is dark at 4:30 or 5 o'clock, it's nice to be able to have a little light on in the perimeter of the house," both indoors and out.

Having more lights on inside, not just an overhead light, she says, "helps you enjoy your home, decorations and activities, and creates a comfortable, warm setting."

Outdoor lights on landscaping and patio areas help you enjoy looking outside farther in the winter and not feel so closed in.

Whole house controls on timers make this easy, she adds. These can be tied to a general timer, connected to a single switch, set on dimmers, connected to a security system and even set to various "modes" - groups of lights set to various brightness levels for entertaining, daytime, security and so on. These options, Mason says, can be built into new construction or retrofit older homes.

"It doesn't take a lot of money to make a big difference in a house."

As important as the aesthetics are the health benefits of proper lighting. To help reduce eyestrain, Mason says, make sure there isn't a great difference in the overall room light and the task light levels.

"You don't want to be sitting with bright light at a desk in a dark room," she says. It's also good to establish a fairly uniform light level and color of light throughout the home so that changes between rooms are minimal.

One new development in residential lighting is the availability of architectural-grade light fixtures. Designed for commercial spaces, these are especially useful for higher ceilings and all settings where additional light is needed. Based on room size, position of light fixtures, reflective surfaces and so on, lighting designers can precisely plan for the exact amount of light needed.

Which bulb is best?

Light bulbs are rated by brightness, or intensity of light produced, the color of the light produced (whether a pinkish, yellow, white or blue cast) and the effect that color has on other objects (the color rendering, or how true colors look when the lamp is shining).

Traditional incandescent bulbs produce a warm glow; halogen lamps produce a color closer to white; the old fluorescent bulbs produced a bluish or green tint; and the new compact fluorescents mimic a typical incandescent bulb. Now, homeowners can enjoy the glow of an incandescent and the savings that come with using fluorescents.

According to Bob Croteau, City Water, Light and Power energy services manager, the new, high-frequency compact fluorescents produce 85 percent of true color and do not flicker. While cost is $3 to $5 per spiral bulb, they last six to 10 times longer than incandescents. They also fit in nearly every fixture, and are widely available in grocery, hardware and big-box stores. (It is recommended to recycle all fluorescent light bulbs, he adds.)

Putting it all together

Overall, Mason says, successful lighting in the winter is all about increasing light levels. Trying different bulbs, positioning existing overhead lights to provide more indirect, reflected light; changing a lamp shade from tan to white all help increase light levels without installing new fixtures or outlets.

Tony Kulavic had the best opportunity of all this fall, however, when he hired a designer to light his new 6,600-square-foot home at 5505 Reserve Blvd. in Springfield. He's pleased with the combination of direct and indirect lighting, both inside and outside his home.

"The house just glows on top of the hill," he says, describing the home as "old world."

Kulavic is especially pleased with the indirect light accents under counters and those behind crown molding. "You don't see the light, you just see the accent of light," he says.

In the basement wine cellar, low-lit sconces on columns shine through steel gates onto exposed brick and arched walkways. These features contribute to the soft, warm feel he likes in the house. But, he adds, when more light is needed, he simply turns the dimmers up.

Benefits of brightness

The ability to increase home light levels during the winter also is helpful to anyone with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, says Ronald F. Zec, associate professor and clinical neuropsychologist at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

SAD is a "recurrent winter depression," Zec says, thought to be the result of decreased daylight. It may begin as early as September, increase through the fall, peak in the winter months and lift spontaneously in March or April.

"Decreased ambient light through the eyes, not skin, has certain negative effects on the brain," he says. This can increase appetite and cravings for carbohydrates, increase irritability and feelings of guilt, and decrease energy, sex drive, concentration and productivity. Decision-making also can become more difficult. Some people become more prone to catching a cold and the flu.

An estimated half a million people in the United States, conservatively, suffer from SAD, Zec says, and as many as twice that number experience "winter blues" - a milder form of the disorder.

Once a physician has ruled out other conditions with symptoms that mimic SAD, such as hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia and chronic viral infection, the preferred SAD therapy is bright light, Zec says. Bright-light boxes cost $200 to $300, he says, and should only be used under a professional's direction.

However, in mild cases, generally increasing light levels in the home, taking a one-hour walk in bright sunlight and getting regular exercise, Zec says, "seems to do wonders."

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