Home lighting guide

Light switches come in about as many different styles as you can imagine, and can be suited to any interior design.

The difference between an efficient light globe and an inefficient one is amazing. To prevent unnecessary waste, inefficient incandescent GLS globes are being phased out in Australia.

Fluorescent globes contain mercury. Find out how to recycle them safely and avoid harmful pollution.

Regulations exist in Australia to determine how much electricity you're allowed to use for lighting in your home, based on floor areas. Find out what's allowed and how to make the most of it.

Find out what those labels and symbols on light globes actually mean, and how to interpret them to your advantage.

There's not a whole lot to maintaining lighting, but a little effort once in a while can make a pretty significant difference. Learn more about maintaining your lights, and how to recycle safely.

Light globes, particularly those outside, can lose a significant amount of light output if not cleaned regularly.

Cleaning light switches is not difficult, and is perfectly safe provided that you do it the right way.

The number of windows in your home and where you put them is restricted by rules designed to ensure a minimum amount of daylight in each part of a home. Find out how this is likely to affect your design.

The most common and essential form of daylighting in almost all homes, windows play a very big part in lighting design.

Skylights generally allow much more light into a room than windows do, thanks to their access to direct sunlight.

This traditional daylighting method is mostly used in industrial buildings, but is now making a comeback in homes.

Traditionally narrow bands of windows across the tops of buildings, but now seems to include any 'higher-than-average' window.

Not all lighting is equal - and nor is it designed to serve the same practical purpose, or provide the same 'feel'. Read about the kinds of things that affect lighting performance.

Find out how different types of globes deteriorate over time, and what effect that has on the quality of they light they produce.

Luminous efficacy determines how much light you get for the power you use - and there are huge differences between globe types.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in particular may require a certain amount of time to reach their full brightness.

Similar to skylights, these tubes bring subtly daylight into your house and are easily disguised as light fittings.

These small windows are usually placed above doors, and often allow both improved lighting and ventilation.

To really consider how 'efficient' different types of globes are compared to others, it's important to look beyond basic consumption. How long will they last? Will the added expense pay itself off in energy savings?