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.

When you are purchasing a home, it goes without saying that you want to be sure the house is structurally sound, and that there are no lurking problems that will surface later and burn a hole in your pocket. It’s why many people get a building inspection and pest inspection done before they sign on the dotted line. While all of this sounds good, what most people aren’t aware of is that they can and should get an energy audit done too.

An electrical audit analyses the major components of the house structure; this includes:

In short, it gives you a very detailed picture about how the buildings works as a whole. For a couple of hundred dollars, you can get an energy audit done from a professional. This audit can save you a significant amount of money in the long term; it identifies the features in the house that require correction to enhance the energy-efficiency. At times, the energy audit results can play a pivotal role in your decision of whether you should invest in a particular property or not.

If you find that a house lacks in energy efficiency, but you still want to buy it, the audit results can become a bargaining tool; it may help you get the seller fix the problem, or you may be able to get the property at a much lower price. No matter which way you look at it; getting an electrical audit is a very good idea. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are a number of other benefits to getting an electrical audit done, such as:

The simple fact is that spaces that are energy-efficient are also more comfortable to live in. Energy-efficiency upgrades will ensure that the heat will be evenly distributed across the home and your home will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

If the indoor air quality in your home is poor, it can cause allergies as well as other health problems. When you choose to get an electrical audit done, the professionals that are conducting the audit, carefully analyse the ventilation in your home and also recommend what can be done to improve the indoor air quality.

Energy efficiency may seem like an isolated aspect in the sustainability of your home. But when discrepancies in the building structure come to the fore during an energy audit, it’s indicative of the fact that many features are constructed poorly and that they will fail before their time. Once you have the audit results, you will get a clearer idea about what will have to do be done to improve the building envelope as a whole.

When you are hiring the services of an electrical/energy auditor, you should keep in view the fact that not every one of them uses the tools and follows the required processes while the audit is being conducted. Ideally, the auditor should use tools such as a duct blower, an infrared camera as well as a blower door.

The blower door is essentially a fan that has to be mounted on the doorframe. It efficiently depressurises & pressurises the home to measure what the air leakage is like. The duct blower performs the same function, but is attached to the ducting in the house. The infrared camera helps detect air leakage in the walls and the heat losses too.

For more information about electrical audits and the best electrical solutions, call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263. You can also drop us a line via email or by filling out this contact form.

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There has been a sea change in electrical safety systems for residential and commercial properties and these systems are significantly safer than the ones that existed even up until 5 years ago. Even if you have new installations on your property, you need to make some effort to prevent electrical accidents.

This means you have to ensure that the electrical infrastructure in your home is of a high-grade and that it’s well-maintained. It’s also important to make smart choices with reference to using various heat-producing appliances and extension cords. Here are some tips that will help make your home a safer space:

Electrical safety is about ensuring that every fixture, fitting and installation is updated and in a good condition. The power points are one of the most important electrical components on your property. Since these are the ones you come in contact with very regularly, they do become worn and damaged sooner than the other parts of the system.