How to solve the lighting problem in the living room?
Question:I have three floor lamps in my living room,all of them with flouroscent bulbs.I live in a apartment so I cant install any wall mount lights.The problem is that I do most of my work in the living room and only use bedroom for sleeping.I want more light to help me with my reading and laptop use,coze these lights are not enough.They were throwing white light in the beginning but now they are all yellowish and I hate yellow lights.It gives strain to my eyes and I can't read continously.I looked at some departmental stores lighting department but none them fills my expectations.
Any ideas, solutions, suggestions.
Thanks....
Answers:
Lighting an apartment where restrictions prevent you from installing the proper lighting for your task is a common problem for many of us. Incandescent light has the best color, but it is not efficient and/or environmentally friendly. One way you can increase the lighting in the room and make the color more comfortable is to use a halogen torchiere. Halogen lights are more efficient than incandescent and give more light. Using a torchiere that has an upward facing shade will give you ambient room lighting and will work together with your fluorescent lamps to create a more comfortable color for your tasks. I have found with fluorescent light bulbs it is better not to use the bulbs that advertise "just like daylight" or "sun light", because they mix a color in with the phosphor coating that, with time, can yellow. Try to find a compact fluorescent light bulb that shows the lumen p/watt of 69 (lumen=light output) and color temperature of 3000K for your lamps. Be careful of the wattage requirement on each fixture so that you get the right bulb for the fixture. So, basically if you purchase a halogen torchiere and change the light bulbs out in your lamps you should see a great difference.
Maybe you need some lamps that throw light up and some that direct it down onto your study areas.Use table lamps or even a floor lamp with a desk light attached to it. I would also invest in the daylight bulbs, the newer ones that last longer. But a few 100 watts of daylight really does make a difference, stopping the yellow feel.
Change light bulbs
Reading lamps or a clip on lamp for your laptop. They sell these at most bookstores & office supply stores
two ideas. spend a little more money on a true light lamp like ott light, it puts off the most clean light...
second, I've heard of temporary track lighting kits. it is a peel and stick set, you adjust where you want the lights to run, and a cord runs down the wall (covered with white tape) and plugs in like a lamp. I think I saw this on QVC first, but the hardware stores carry them too now.
Can you hang one of those lights that come on a chain? I can't remember the name of them - they plug into the wall but you hang them from the ceiling. You could do that instead of the table lamps over your end tables...SWAG they are called SWAG lamps! Whew! had to come back and find this question since I remembered it!
Ikea is awesome by the way for lighting in matters of expense.
They're old fashioned, but have you considered something like a "pole-lamp"? they're easily placed whereever you want them, and you can put whatever type bulb you want in them, including the newer CFL bulbs, and swivel each fixture around to your own preference. See the below link for an example of what I'm referring to. Hope this helps.
Track lighting. They mount with very little hardware that can be patched easily.Be sure to purchase a fixture with a connection you can run to a standard wall outlet.
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