SUSTAINABILITY
ECO FRIENDLY & ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME
Lighting is one of the most important things to consider in every home. As it is quite important, it may pull up excessive energy usage and thus put an ecological strain and higher electrical bills. That is why properly and efficiently using lighting is of utmost importance. We at Vintage+ strive to be environmentally aware in every step of the production process as well as assist our clients with making more efficient and eco-friendly choices when it comes to lighting. That is why we have prepared these guidelines so that you can make your home eco-friendly and energy efficient.
Use LED Lighting
If you have not yet transitioned to LED lighting, now would be the best time to do that change. LED lights are on the pricey side for the initial investment but are way more efficient than other lights and last a significantly longer time, so you should not worry about changing it any time soon. By changing you will be way more efficient with the energy and with that lower the electricity bill and be cute eco-friendly as you would not make as much garbage as with other lights and they produce much less heat, in order to give the required lighting so it’s a win-win situation in whichever way you look at it. Do not wait and make the change to LED lighting.
Use Task Lighting
Whenever possible try to use task lighting, only illuminating the thing which has the focus on it. For example, if you are going up or down the stairs, illuminate only them, or when reading just turn on the bedside lamp. There are many different tasks which do not require that all lights be turned on, so with tactical usage of lighting you can drastically save energy and do your part in preserving our planet for future generations.
Walls & Lighting
Think of your walls as an art piece of the lighting. Properly illuminating your walls creates artistic lighting, as the walls can reflect light more efficiently and elegantly distribute the lighting in the room. A general good idea is to wash the walls with light and thus allowing them to spread it evenly throughout the room, creating a better and brighter atmosphere, all while being responsible with the usage of energy.
Use Dimmers
Dimmers are a game changer for creating the perfect room atmosphere for different occasions and of course saves you money on the electricity bill. You may install as many dimmers as you would like, however we would recommend in the rooms you use the most to install dimmers and you will be in total control of the atmosphere for any occasion as well as save quite a lot on the electricity bill.
Use Lamps
If there is no need to light up the whole room, when you are using just a part of it, why not have only light for that space. Lamps are the key for this, they help you avoid excessive use of lighting and just provide task or ambience light. This is an elegant and optimal solution to smartly light up your home, adding beauty in the design and increasing your energy saving and eco-friendliness.
Keep Lighting Clean
Any dust or dirt on the bulbs or chandeliers may hinder them in proving their full potential in illumination. It is highly advisable to regularly gently wipe the bulbs and chandeliers with a soft and dry cloth, thus giving them the ability to always shine like brand new. Just keep in mind when cleaning them, that they are off and the bulbs are removed from the sockets, in order to avoid any potential harm to yourself.
Wall Paint Colors
In each home the wall paint color has a drastic impact on many things, even if you do not realize it. As dark colors absorb the light and store it, they barely reflect it, thus leaving the room feeling dark, however bright and light colors reflect large by quite a larger margin and you are getting a well lit and bright room, using much less energy and needing less powerful lighting. That is why utilizing brightly colored walls wherever possible is quite often the right answer.
Open Floor Plan
The open floor plan has many benefits, however the main one in which we are interested is the lighting efficiency. Lighting can easily flow through the entire structure and thus utilize daylight more efficiently, and in the night the light from chandeliers or lamps will have a wider impact, requiring less products and less power to maintain a brightly lit home.
Get your Lighting from Eco-Friendly Vendors
The environmental responsibility starts from the very start, i.e. the production process. Prefer to choose products from vendors which utilize eco-friendly production and packaging processes. With that you would be doing your part in the sustainability of the lighting industry, by supporting green vendors and knowing that you are getting a high quality, efficient and eco-friendly product for your home. We at Vintage+ always think about the environment before making any decision and put great effort to spread our green spirit throughout the industry and push for more innovative and better ways to save energy and care about this planet.
Energy Savings with LED
If you made the switch to energy-efficient lighting, such as LED, you would light up your home the same, while paying less. Generally lighting is around 15% of an average electricity bill, so by using energy efficient lighting, not only you are using the energy responsibly, but also you can save quite a bit. A great addition to energy efficiency is using lighting controls such as dimmers, timers or smart lighting. Timers can be set to automatically turn on and off lights in specified timeframes, dimmers can be used for lowering light levels, thus lowering the wattage of the bulb and set different atmosphere depending on the need and lastly using smart lighting has all this possibilities and much more, which can be easily controlled through a smartphone application
Recycle
You may ask yourself why you should recycle LED bulbs. The answer is simple, the glass and metal which are used in the bulbs are recyclable and it is best practice to reuse these resources as they are non-renewable and take care of the environment. Almost 95% of the components in the LED bulb can be recycled, however not all of it will be recycled depending on the facilities, as for some facilities the cost to separate the materials may be too high.
