Home Lighting Resources

Exterior Lighting from Homestore.com
This portal offers tips, information, and advice on outdoor lighting for the home. Topics covered include patio lighting, landscape lighting, tree fixtures, low voltage and low wattage lighting, deck lighting, garden lighting, safety, and security. There are also links to manufacturers.

Welcome to Light Bulb 101
This well-designed site promises to "shed a little light" on picking the right light bulb. Fluorescent, incandescent, and halogen are all discussed in detail. There is also a section with links to articles on window treatments, basement, and bedroom lighting, as well as an answer column. Do-It-Yourselfers will especially appreciate the forum where they can share the ins and outs of projects with other people that have done the same project.

Lighting and Fan Information
The top bar menu on the American Lighting Association Web site allows non-members to select from six areas of "Lighting and Fan Information" to learn how to use living room lighting, dining room lighting, kitchen lighting, bathroom lighting and bedroom lighting to achieve a desired affect. The "Lighting Your Life" section outlines the basics of lighting, including the value of home interior lighting, how to determine your interior lighting needs and the basic types of interior lighting. Information on the shapes and forms of lighting such as chandeliers, ceiling fixtures, wall-mounted fixtures like sconces, table lamps, track lighting, recessed lighting follows, along with the details on such lighting controls as integrated dimming systems, touch dimmers, slide dimmers and rotary dimmers. This section concludes with information on the various light sources. Other areas of the "Lighting and Fan Information," include "Bathroom and Kitchen Lighting," "Landscape Lighting," "Selecting a Ceiling Fan," "Energy-wise Lighting," and links to resources and related articles. The "Landscape Lighting" section has some depth of detail, exploring the value of exterior lighting, including patio lighting, deck lighting and security lighting, while "Selecting a Ceiling Fan" walks the uninformed through the basics of choosing the right ceiling fan. Additional articles accompany each section and include such topics as chandeliers, dimmers and ceiling fans.

Lighting Efficiency Ratings and Meter
Light bulb information about how to pick the right light bulb for your home lighting needs. Including fluorescent, halogen flood, metal halide and incandescent light bulb guide that also includes energy efficiency specifications of each bulb, as well as bulb life predictions. Easy to use tables present information clearly. Also included are tips to control lighting usage, including and informative meter where visitors can type in their lighting usage hours per day and the number of bulbs they use to calculate an energy bill.