Home maintenance can add up in costs and it can be difficult to cut down on your utility bills. Emergencies can happen at any time, and appliances simply aren’t built to last forever. The good news is that there are a few tricks every homeowner can use to save money and keep your home in tip-top shape. Most probably don’t think of their home’s lighting as a way to cut down on costs, but a dimmer installation can help you save. Your home’s lighting can not only be energy efficient, but customizable and cozy.
How a Dimmer Installation Can Help Your Home
You might not think it, but the quality of lighting can increase your home’s value and comfort tremendously. Installing dimmers adds a variety of different lighting settings to your home to save money and add ambiance. Like any electrical appliance, however, your lighting is complicated and it can be difficult to get just the right amount of lighting. Dimmers give you that trial and error without having to have a licensed electrician replace and install multiple light fixtures. If you’re considering adding some dimmers to your home, here’s how a few dimmers can help you.
- You save money. Dimmers are economic in that they consume considerably less energy when you dim the lights. Traditional light switches only give you the option of shutting off a light or turning it on, which means either you use 0% energy or 100%. A dimmer switch gives you full control of how much energy you want to use in a light switch, which can decrease your utility bills, saving $30 a year.
- Your light bulbs last longer. On top of consuming less energy, a home with dimmers means fewer trips to the hardware store to replace your light bulbs. Generally the less light is used, the longer the bulb lasts.
- They provide a variety of lighting. Besides saving money, the best perk of a dimmer is the flexibility. Installing dimmers to your lighting enables you to adjust different light fixtures in your rooms for different effects. Dimmers are also easy to use because they can be programmed to change at certain times or controlled with an app or touch screen. Whether you want to accentuate some art, add ambiance, or sleep a little better at night, dimmers help to make that happen.
What You Need to Know About Dimmers
Dimmers not only improve your home’s quality of lighting, they also come in a variety of switches and can add different effects to each room. While it might be tempting to try and install a dimmer switch on your own, your lighting is complicated, and best left to a licensed electrician to install. If you’re ready to upgrade your home’s lighting, there are a few important factors to consider first.
- The type of switch. A dimmer is not only flexible for your home’s lighting; it’s also flexible in what type of switch you can use to adjust the lighting. An integrated switch, for example, allows you to create multiple lighting presets for one room which is controlled either by a button in the wall or a wireless controller. There are touch dimmer switches which are controlled with a simple tap of your finger and some can even switch back to a prior light setting. For something less sophisticated, there are manual switches like a slider or a rotary switch, which allow you to manually adjust the lighting.
- The type of dimmer. You can also decide how complex you want your lighting control setup to be. A single pole dimmer controls the dimming and lighting for all your home’s light fixtures. Three-way or four-way dimmers are used for light fixtures to be controlled by one dimmer switch with additional on and off switches. Multi-location dimmers enable you to use multiple dimmer switches to control multiple dimmers.
- What you want in each room. It’s important to remember that a dimmer installation not only save you money but offer a variety of uses for each room. Having dimmers in the bathroom, for example, allows you to turn down the lights first thing in the morning for your light sensitive eyes. Dimmers are especially best for bedrooms as the dimmed light helps prepare your body to wind down for sleep. Kitchens which can be a popular room to hang out can benefit from dimmer lights, as good lighting makes for a good looking kitchen, which saves you money and adds curb appeal. Even outdoor lighting benefit from a dimmer switch, especially when you need a little extra light in the evenings.
Your Home Deserves Better Lighting
Saving money is tough, especially when it’s time to pay the utility bill, but installing dimmers is one helpful trick that benefits homeowners. Dimmers add a nice variety of lighting for decoration and ambiance for comfort and help cut down on utility costs. Upgrading your home’s lighting, however, is best left to a licensed electrician, who not only can help you pick a dimmer that will work best for your home, but ensure your new lighting is installed safely. Call Ryan Gath Electric today and get the best lighting your home deserves.