7 ce] HINT FOR HOMEBUYER ee Your New HomeIn The Right Light: At Night (NAPA)—If you’re buying a home, here’s an important tip: tour the property at night to evaluate the lighting. People usually take lighting for granted. It should, however, be a primary consideration since most families spend their quality time together at homeafter dark. Whenassessing a home’s lighting, note the most frequently used rooms and the numberandtypesof lighting fixtures. Do table and floor lamps provide a majority of the lighting? Are there any hard-toreach lightbulbs in high ceiling fixtures? Will the existing lighting create the proper mood in the dining room, or will dinners feel cold and impersonal? Will bright bathroom lights allow you to unwind in the bath after a long day? Outdoors, is the main entrance welllit? Will you feel safe coming homelate at night? If the lighting isn’t quite right, there’s an easy and costeffective way to improve it: install dimmer switches. Where traditional switches only give you two options —“on” or “off’—dimmer switches allow you to adjust lighting to suit any activity. Dimmers offer a wealth of other benefits: energy savings, increased security and various decorative advantages. Dimmer switches are available for every type of light, including table lamps, so you can use light effectively in every room. In the kitchen, brighten lights for food preparation and then soften them for dining. In the family room, lighting can be raised for playtime or homework and then lowered to create a theater atmosphere for viewing movies. In the dining Before purchasing a new home,visit it at night to assess its lighting. room, soft lights create an intimate mood for entertaining but can then be brightened for clean up. In bedrooms, dimmed lights ensure that children can sleep comfortably and make those 3 a.m. bathroom visits less startling. Outside, dimmers increase security and provide the comfort of being able to take out the trash or walk from the car to the front door without worry. Dimmersare a proven way to save on electrical expenses too. According to Lutron Electronics— the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of dimmer switches —dimminga standardlightbulb by 10 percent saves 10 percent elec- tricity and doubles the life of the bulb. Dimming the samelight by 50 percent cuts electricity consumption by 50 percent and extends bulb life by 20 times. Whether you want to control one light in one room or every light in your home, Lutron dimmer switches provide solutions. Visit a local lighting professional, lighting showroom or home improvement center for more information. For more lighting control ideas, contact Lutron at 1-800-523-9466 or www.lutron.com.
