Easy Ways to Look After the Lighting in Your Home

All lighting, from the bright overhead fixture that helps you while you are cooking in your kitchen to the lamp that helps you wind down in your living room, is ubiquitous. It allows you to see, sets the tone, and makes your home feel welcoming and safe. But like everything else in your home, your lighting system requires a little maintenance to ensure it continues to function at its best. If you fail to maintain your fixtures, you might experience flickering lights, bulbs that burn out much too soon, or, in the worst-case scenario, dangerous electrical issues. It does not take an electrical mastermind to keep your home illuminated and secure. All you need to do is follow a few easy home maintenance steps.

Keep Fixtures and Bulbs Clean

Dust and dirt are major downfalls of brighter lights. Dust and grime collect on your light fixtures and sometimes on the bulbs. This soil acts as a small shade that blocks light and causes your rooms to seem darker than they are. To keep them shining, all you need to do is wipe down your light fixtures every so often with a soft, dry cloth. You can rinse with a damp cloth if a fixture is particularly dusty, but always ensure the power is off and the fixture is cool when you clean.

Use the Right Bulbs

Make sure to use the right kind of bulb with the correct wattage in each fixture. There is a sticker or label on or near each light fixture, usually inside the socket or on the canopy, that identifies the maximum wattage bulb you can use. If you place a bulb with too high a wattage in a fixture, it can lead to overheating, which may cause the wiring to melt, damage the fixture itself, reduce the life of the bulb, and, in some cases, create a fire risk. If a fixture says “Max 60W,” for example, do not ever put a 100-watt bulb in it.

Although you can troubleshoot common lighting issues, it’s also important to recognize when a problem is too complex for DIY attempts and requires a professional. For example, if you smell something burning in a light fixture or switch, see sparks, or experience a breaker that trips in a certain room when you turn the light on, you should not ignore these warning signs. These could indicate dangerous electrical problems, such as short circuits and overloaded circuits, which are legitimate fire hazards. It requires a trained electrician and advanced equipment to test and fix these complex issues.

If you are in need of lighting installations in your Kailua-Kona, HI, home, reach out to the electricians at Big Island Electric.