If you are planning on renovating or sprucing-up your kitchen, it’s probably a good idea to map out a detailed lighting plan as well. Most people find this a little strange as they feel that lighting in a kitchen isn’t something that needs too much of consideration or planning. It’s just a place where you cook and probably where you have an informal meal after all.

However, the fact is that it’s important to plan kitchen illumination well if you want to make optimal use of your kitchen spaces. Here, we would like to share some basic lighting ideas to create the right balance of functionality and aesthetics.

If you want to get a better idea about what type of lighting would work best for your kitchen, it’s vital to understand how your kitchen spaces relate to the different type of lighting. Let’s start off with understanding what type of bulbs you can use for the best effects:

These bulbs emit a yellowish light and you will now find many artistic versions of these on the market today.

These bulbs throw off a flat, cold light that has a bluish tinge, which lends a very harsh effect to the room.

These have a warm light that makes the place look very inviting and comfortable

These are the latest in light bulb technology and are available in a range of effects including white, cool daylight, warm light, yellow and a range of other colours and hues. Aside from this, LED bulbs are also 80% more energy-efficient than standard bulbs; and most property owners are now opting for these fixtures.

In addition to the types of bulbs used, the style of lighting or the lighting effects are what impact the ambience and appearance of a room. With this in view, here we discuss the different lighting effects that can be used in your kitchen:

This is one of the simplest ways to create the right lighting effect in your kitchen. This type of lighting is designed to help you move comfortably around the room. In most instances this type of lighting comes from grid-style can lighting, widely-spaced, wall and ceiling lamps, semi-translucent skylights or even the natural light that streams in through glass windows and doors. This is the base layer of any lighting plan.

In your kitchen, task lighting would be required to illuminate kitchen counters and food preparation spaces. Since you will be cooking in your kitchen every day, it’s important that the task lighting be planned and installed well. If you have only recessed lighting fixtures in your kitchen, you will feel the lack of focused light when you are cleaning, cooking or prepping in that space.

If you install one-dimensional lighting in the kitchen, it creates unsightly shadows in different areas of the room, while ceiling lighting is ineffective in illuminating spaces like sinks, under counter or cabinet areas etc. On the other hand, if you add special pendant lamps over the counters or even your kitchen island it can prove to be a more practical solution. Under-cabinet lighting can also help in illuminating the cabinets that are positioned there.

This effect doesn’t seem as necessary as ambient or task lighting does in a kitchen space, as the illumination it provides isn’t as functional as the first two. However, it can have a significant impact on the way your kitchen spaces look. If you want to enhance the appeal of your kitchen (regardless of whether you are getting it entirely renovated or are opting for a lighting upgrade), it’s important that you plan your accent lighting well.

Smoke detectors are wonderful devices. They save homes and property, prevent countless fire-related deaths, and alert people to potential fires before they are out of control. In fact, these alarms are so invaluable, many insurers offer discounts on homeowners coverage for homes equipped with working smoke detectors.

At Pezz Electrical Services LLC, safety is our number one priority. Our services include safety inspections for heating and electrical equipment alike, which becomes more and more important as winter approaches. Follow these steps to keep your home safe for the winter, and call our friendly team to learn more.

Winterize your home to prevent chilly temperatures and burst pipes. Keep heat from moving out of the home by sealing air leaks, applying weather stripping or caulking to areas around doors and windows.

Make sure heat can reach all of the pipes in your home. Keep doors open throughout the house, along with cupboards where exposed piping may be. Do not block off vents, and insulate all exposed pipes in and out of the home. Clean out roof gutters and repair any leaks in the roof long before winter picks up.

Your gas heater should vent any combustion byproducts—like carbon monoxide (CO)—safely to the outdoors. While today’s heaters have safety switches to shut down the heater in case this doesn’t happen, a safety switch could fail.

Be sure you schedule an appointment with a heating maintenance technician every year, as early in the winter or fall as possible. Keep the air filter clean and replace it monthly.

Test carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors monthly as well. If you do not have these devices throughout the home, now is the time to take this step to enhance safety and give you peace of mind. Replace CO detectors every 5-7 years and smoke detectors every 10 years. Change the batteries every 6 months.

If your power went out in the middle of a cold winter day or night, would you have a backup plan? Elderly family members and children often cannot get by without heat, and it could be dangerous. We recommend a whole-house generator, or a portable model at the very least, or that you have a backup plan and a place to stay, just in case.

The world of lighting, LED specifically, can get overwhelming for those that are not directly in the space. From lumens, to watts, efficacy, and more; jargon and terms aren’t doing you any good if you don’t know what they mean.

Not only is it just about LED terms, but also general concepts, facts, and methods of LED lighting technology and the fundamentals that are important to understand to use LED to it’s fullest potential.

In this post, we’ve gather the 7+ “must read” LED lighting articles you should read if you want to understand LED lighting a bit more and be much better off when you dive into the industry and technology. Whether you are a facility manager, electrical contractor, or building owner; all of these articles we’ve gathered will certainly give some value and we hope you enjoy them all