Home Lighting Myths You Need to Know

Every industry has its myths. Whether it's that you can't mix patterns or that cold air causes colds, we are all familiar with various myths. The lighting design industry has its fair share of myths. We'll debunk some of the top lighting myths we hear from our customers every day. 

Lighting myth one:  A 5000K bulb gives you more light. Many consumers incorrectly think that the higher K a light bulb is, the more light it gives off. This is completely untrue. A higher K (or Kelvin) bulb rating just means it's going to give off more of a blue tint (think Walmart lights). If you want a brighter light bulb, opt for an LED light bulb that's about 7-10 watts and 2700K-3000K in color temp. 

Lighting myth two: Boob lights are the best flush mounts. Boob lights came into popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s. And by popularity, we mean that builders used these on a mass scale while building homes during this time. And the reason for this? Costs. Builders and contractors everywhere were trying to cut costs and these flush mounts were one way to do that. 

Now that we know what contributed to their rise in infamy, we can also know that they aren't the best flush mounts. They may be more convenient, but boob lights certainly aren't optimal. We have so many flush mount options for under $200 that you can use to replace your builder-grade lights.

Lighting myth three: Can/recessed lighting is your only option for 8-foot or 9-foot ceilings. The most common ceiling height in homes across America is 8 feet, closely followed by 9 feet. Many homeowners think that they can only install recessed or can lights so that the ceiling doesn't feel shorter or the rooms smaller. However, for many rooms with this ceiling height, a flush mount, semi-flush mount, or even a converted chandelier can add to the overall room aesthetic. Or you can add LED disc lights as a quicker option to adding recessed lighting. 

We recommend having a minimum of 7 feet between the bottom of your fixture and the floor. This leaves you with anywhere from 12"-24" to work with in terms of light fixture height. It's never a bad idea to try and add a decorative light fixture to your room. 

Lighting myth four: You have to have a nice/expensive home to upgrade your lighting. As a lighting company, we can not stress this enough: lighting upgrades are for EVERYONE. Lighting Design offers light fixtures for every budget and every home style. 

Updating your lighting is one of the easiest and most inexpensive home upgrades you can make. It can improve the design of your home as well as improve curb appeal and energy efficiency. 

Lighting myth five: Integrated LED fixtures don't last very long. This is a BIG myth in the lighting world. And we understand the concern, because for most LED-integrated light fixtures once the LED goes out you have to replace the whole fixture.

Nevertheless, there have been some major improvements of LED-integrated fixtures in recent years. For example, many fixtures now come with replaceable LED components and many lighting manufacturers have increased their warranties from one year to three and five years. 

Lighting myth six: You should only use your ceiling fans in the summer. Last, but certainly not least, we recommend using your ceiling fans in the summer AND the winter. In the summer, rotate your fan counter-clockwise at a high speed to pull warm air up and push cool air down. In the winter, turn your fan clockwise on a lower speed to help distribute the heated air. 

Have you heard any of these lighting myths before this? Tell us if we cleared anything up for you!