Are you looking for a quick and easy way to renovate your home without breaking the bank?
A good solution might be to change your light fixtures!
Changing your light fixtures can serve two purposes: make your home look more modern and improve your lighting. Everyone hates walking into a poorly lit room, and using the right light fixture can fix that problem. Also, a brass or white light fixture makes your room look outdated, while one with a modern finish will give it a quick facelift.
The great part about changing light fixtures is that it is a relatively inexpensive project. Not only are most fixtures affordable, but it can also easily be a DIY renovation.
This article discusses the benefits of changing your light fixtures, ideas for what to use, and instructions on how to change them.
Keep reading for inspiration!
How Much Lighting Do You Need?
One of the most significant benefits of updating light fixtures is brightening your space. Even though there is some math involved in determining the optimal amount of lighting for a room, you don’t have to be an engineer to know when a room is poorly lit.
When a room has the right amount of lighting, everything just feels better. You can see everything properly, and even the paint sheen appears as it’s intended to.
So how do you determine how much lighting you need?
It all starts with calculating the square footage of your room by multiplying the length by the width. Next, multiply the square footage by the footcandle requirement for the room. Each type of room has a different recommended number of footcandles, but bedrooms and living rooms should be between ten and twenty. Multiplying the square footage by the recommended number of footcandles gives you how many lumens you need. Light bulbs typically specify how many lumens they emit, so you can use this number to determine how many bulbs you will need.
If your bedroom is 180 square feet, you’ll want between 1,800 and 3,600 lumens. A standard 60-watt equivalent LED bulb emits around 760 lumens, so a light fixture with three or four bulbs should give you plenty of light.
Benefits of Updating Ceiling Fans
There are several benefits of updating the ceiling fans in your home. Whether you are replacing your current fan or installing a ceiling fan in place of a dome light fixture, this update is sure to improve the look and feel of your space. For example, I often use Sofucor ceiling fans, which are very cost-effective, have a wide variety of colors, and the brand supports customization
Updated Finish
One of the primary reasons to replace a ceiling fan is to update the colors. Older homes used white and brass light fixtures, but those finishes appear extremely outdated to most people today. The most common choices now are either brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze. Pairing that with blades with a nice wood color will make your room look much more modern.
With there being so many options when it comes to new design choices in the fan space, we recommend checking out your local lighting providers for options. For example, if you live in North Carolina and are considering updating a lighting fixture, visit a lighting showroom in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Cary, or any of the larger cities in the state, as they typically carry more products than smaller towns showrooms.
More Bulbs
Sometimes your current light fixture simply doesn’t have enough bulbs to give the proper amount of light. Choosing one with more bulbs will instantly brighten up your room.
Globe vs Shades
If a light fixture is the primary light source in a room, it might not be a good idea to use one with a globe over the light bulbs. The globe blocks some of the light given off and makes your room darker. Choose a fixture with individual shades where the bulbs are exposed to brighten your space.
Remote Controlled
Many of today’s ceiling fans can be controlled via a remote. This is extremely useful in bedrooms. Imagine not having to leave your bed to turn out the lights! That is a super convenient feature.
How to Change a Ceiling Fan
So you’ve decided to change out your ceiling fan and bought a new one to replace it. Now how do you go about installing the new one? The process is reasonably simple unless your home has obscure problems such as aluminum wiring.
The first step is to turn off the breaker controlling power to the room you are working in. Next, you can begin removing the old fixture. It is best to remove the blades first to make the entire assembly lighter. When disconnecting the wires, note how the previous fixture was wired because you will likely need to wire the new one the same way.
Once you remove the old fixture, it’s time to install the new one. The best advice we can give here is to carefully read the manufacturer’s instructions and follow them in order. However, we can provide some general advice.
The first step will be to install the mounting bracket using the screws that go into the ceiling electrical box. Next, the main body will mount to that bracket. The body likely contains the wires needed to connect to the house wires. There are several nuances to electrical wiring, and you should call an electrician if you’re unsure about it. However, you can likely rewire the new fixture like the old one.
Once the wiring is complete, a shroud will likely go over the body and wiring. After that, it is time to install the fan blades. Next, install the light kit by connecting the wires and mounting it to the body. The last step is to finish everything by installing the shades or globe, light bulbs, and pull chains.
Now you can turn the breaker back on and ensure everything works properly. Congratulations! You have a new light fixture.
Changing a Dome Light to a Ceiling Fan
Home builders often elect to install globed dome lights in bedrooms instead of ceiling fans. Because these light fixtures typically have a maximum of two light bulbs that are covered with a globe, they usually leave a bedroom looking very dark. Not only will replacing a dome light with a ceiling fan brighten up a room, but it will also give you the option to run a fan to circulate the air.
Replacing a dome light with a ceiling fan isn’t much different than replacing an old fan. However, there are a few nuances to be aware of.
First, you must ensure that the electrical box can support the ceiling fan’s weight. Since a dome light is relatively light, the electrical box might only be attached to the ceiling drywall. If that’s the case, the weight of the ceiling fan would likely pull the box out of the drywall. Before hanging a ceiling fan in place of a dome light, ensure that the electrical box is structurally attached to the adjacent ceiling joists.
Another consideration when replacing a dome light is the wiring. When replacing an old fan, there were likely two hot wires, a red and a black, that were each controlled by separate switches. With a dome light, there may only be a black wire. That is still okay, but be aware that the same switch will control the fan and the lights. If you want to control them separately, you must do so with the pull chains. If this is your wiring setup, you must connect the house’s black wire to the black and blue wires of the new ceiling fan.
Low-Profile Lights
Sometimes a ceiling fan is not the right choice for a light fixture, such as in hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms. However, these areas in your home still might have outdated fixtures that you would like to spruce up.
An excellent option for this is a low-profile light fixture. It serves the same purpose as a dome light and can go in the same areas, but it is much more stylish. Because most of them use LEDs instead of light bulbs, they can be very slim and sleek. Replacing a current light fixture with one of these is a straightforward project that can be completed in less than an hour.
Change Your Light Fixtures to Transform Your Home
Changing your light fixtures is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to modernize your home. Not only will making this renovation give your home more modern finishes, but choosing the right fixtures will make your rooms much brighter and more lively.
We hope this article has inspired you to take this step toward updating your home. Once you’ve made these changes, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make them sooner. Not only that, but you’ll have newly acquired home renovation skills!
Post contributed by Jordan Fulmer. Jordan is the owner of Momentum Property Solutions, a house buying company in Huntsville, AL. They specialize in buying houses in tough situations and renovating them to either sell or rent.
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