Lighting Maldon

Careful & Thorugh Planning

By planning carefully from the start, you can light your home or business correctly. There are lots of different factors to take into consideration when installing new lighting.

Lighting should be considered before any building/refurbishment work starts; this way, the new lighting is made to work in harmony with your newly built/refurbed space, decor and furniture.

If your refurbishment work includes new structures, your builder or architect may have planned the lighting already.

Our Electricians can

• Work to existing plans provided by your builder or architect
• Design the new lighting installation from scratch

Always use qualified Electricians with lighting experience to design and build your lighting installation. Our team tick all the boxes.

Room Measurements & Shape

By measuring the room, working out the square footage and taking note of the shape, we can calculate the number of lights needed, amount of bulbs and the power of bulbs.

Use Of Space

Different rooms have different lighting needs. Hallways are walked through and usually have good natural light, so they need less powerful bulbs. More time is spent in living rooms, so more light is necessary but not as much as required in the kitchen where cooking takes place. Bathrooms require more light than all other rooms. The use of the space tells us what bulbs are needed, the colours and wattages.

Time Of Room Occupation

It’s essential to establish the time of day each room is used. A home office with a north-facing window lets less light in than a patio door facing south. The home office occupied during the day may need some additional lighting. If your living room’s occupied evening time, then you will benefit from additional lighting. If it’s only occupied during the day, then extra lighting isn’t necessary.

Windows

Windows let light in the levels depending on the time of day and the direction the window faces. Natural light is made to work with the lighting system. Windows are never enhanced by lighting.

Natural Features

Fireplaces, alcoves, arches and feature walls are natural features that’ll benefit from lighting enhancement. Correct lighting positioning makes your features stand out, impressing your guests and making your room more pleasant to be in.

Unattractive Features

Unless you have underfloor heating throughout your home, radiators will be present, also maybe some cupboard doors. These necessary features make our day-to-day living more comfortable, but we don’t want them to stand out, so there are not purposely highlighted.

Furniture

Lighting can be positioned to work with your furniture. Chandeliers over the seating area with a coffee table or backlights hidden behind armchairs are a couple of examples.

Switches

Light switches are placed in the most convenient areas. Correct positioning ensures you don’t have to walk through a dark room to switch a light on.

Decor Colour

Light designs and bulb colours are made to complement your decor. Various bulb colours are available, from incredibly soft to mimicking natural daylight. Colours include

• Very warm white
• Warm white
• White
• Cool white
• Daylight

Types Of Light Bulbs

Incandescent

Incandescent bulbs were the favourite for many years and were spawned from the original light bulb invented by Thomas Edison. Electricity heats a tungsten filament which then lights up. The glass enclosure prevents air from getting in, stopping the filament from oxidising and burning out.

Incandescent bulbs are cheap to buy, but when compared to modern bulbs, they are more expensive to run and don’t last as long. Incandescent bulbs are in the process of being phased out permanently and replaced by more energy-efficient versions.

Halogen

Halogen bulbs are cheaper to run than incandescent bulbs. They are more expensive to buy but don’t last as long. Halogens work very similarly to Incandescent bulbs, except they utilise halogen gas (sealed in the bulb), making them more efficient.

Compact Fluorescent (CFL)

Compact Fluorescent bulbs are the original ‘energy-efficient bulb, being far more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. CFLs are gradually disappearing. They’re large, look a bit strange and contain mercury (bad news if you ever break one).

LED Bulbs

Most lighting installations we undertake include modern LED bulbs. LEDs run a lot cooler than other bulbs, use considerably less energy and last much longer.

• The average wattage of an LED bulb is 4-20 watts.
• The average wattage of Incandescent bulbs is 40-150 watts.
• An Incandescent bulb will last around 1000 hours. An LED bulb will last up to 50,000 hours.
• LEDs are around 6-7 times cheaper to run than incandescent bulbs.

It’s for the above reasons we recommend LED bulbs for most lighting installations.

Smart LED Bulbs

Smart LED bulbs are controlled by an app on a device such as your phone, tablet or laptop. With the app, you can switch the lights on or off, control their luminance and set them to turn on or off at set times. Some smart bulbs can change colour and even have built-in cameras and speakers: the ultimate bulb and a great addition to your smart home technology.

Indoor Lights

Indoor lighting serves three primary purposes and can be broken down into the following categories.

• Ambient
• Task
• Decorative

Ambient Light

Ambient light is the standard lighting that illuminates and allows you to use your home in safety and comfort. Every room of a dwelling will have at least one ambient light, usually on the ceiling.

Task Light

Additional lighting that works in conjunction with ambient light to carry out specific tasks. A desk lamp is a portable and straightforward form of task lighting. Built-in task lights include wall-mounted spotlights, mirror lights to aid in grooming, and ceiling-mounted track lights mounted above kitchen worktops.

Task lights make household chores such as cooking and cleaning more straightforward and pleasurable; no one enjoys working in inadequate lighting.

Decorative Light

Decorative light is used to create features, effects or highlight features of your home, such as feature walls, fireplaces, pictures, trophy cabinets etc. Decorative lighting can work exceptionally well with the colours of your home when installed correctly. Directional lights are usually used to create these decorative effects.

Ceiling Lights

The traditional light is wired into the ceiling. Ceiling lights are usually connected within the lighting circuit, which is connected to the consumer unit.

Pendants

A traditional Pendant light comprises a ceiling rose, cable and light fitting where the bulbs are attached and shine downward. Pendants typically have a lampshade to soften the light. Lampshades are interchangeable or built-in, depending on the light. There are many delightful Pendant lights on the UK market, with hundreds of designs available.

Chandeliers

Chandeliers are large designer lights constructed from various metals and glass. They house multiple bulbs and are often eye-catching, fitted to work with the room, decor and furniture. The best place for chandeliers is above dining tables and seating areas. Chandeliers can work well in hallways, bedrooms and even bathrooms. Chandeliers hang lower than most other styles of lights, so a generous ceiling height is usually required.

Flush & Semi-Flush

Flush and Semi-Flush lights sit closer to the ceiling than pendants and chandeliers. There are many designs available that are suitable for homes with medium to low ceilings and taller occupants. Flush lights sit against the ceiling, while semi-flush lights hang a few inches. Many bathroom lights are flush-style lights. Semi-Flush lights are relatively common in kitchens, living rooms and dining rooms.

Recessed

Recessed lights sit inside the ceiling. By the nature of their design, several Recessed lights may be required to illuminate a room properly. The Recessed spotlight is extremely popular; some are adjustable and multi-directional.

Track

Multiple spotlights are fitted onto a track on the ceiling. The lights can be moved and pointed in different directions, making it possible to light up a large area from one light fitting on the ceiling.

Wall Lights

All homes will have the wiring for ceiling lights already in place. Wall lights require wiring, which runs inside the wall, either chased out or behind the plasterboard. If your home doesn’t have wall lights, it’s best to install them before decorating.

Wall lights can shine the light upwards, which bounces off the ceiling illuminating the room in a softer tone than ceiling lights. Wall lights can shine outwards, and some can be pointed in different directions.

Single & Double Arm Wall Lights

A Bulb’s attached to an arm that protrudes from the wall, mini lampshades are optional. Spotlights are available on long adjustable arms for task lighting purposes. Double-arm wall lights feature two bulbs.

Uplighters

Wall up-lighters feature a covered bulb. All the light shines upwards, illuminating the wall and the room. It can be used as your primary lighting source or for decorative purposes.

Up & Down

Double bulb lights that shine the light in both up and down directions illuminate the room and provide a decorative effect at the same time.

Flush

The light sits flush with the wall. Different directions are available that shine the light up, all directions or outwards—a good option for corridors and hallways.

Picture & Mirror Strip Lights

Strip lights are fitted above pictures and mirrors for highlighting and task purposes. Different lengths are available so they can be matched up to your pictures or mirror.

Exterior Lights

Exterior lighting provides safety and security. Our Maldon electricians install all types of exterior lights. We can upgrade your existing lights, design and build a new exterior lighting installation or install lights to the plans of your architect or landscape gardener.

Outdoor lighting allows you to navigate safely after dark. Motion sensor lights only switch on when you walk outside and don’t come on at all during daylight hours. Automatic lighting will also scare off any unwelcome intruders adding a valuable security element to your home.

Outdoor living areas have become extremely popular in recent years and are greatly enhanced by lighting. Various lights are on offer to make more outdoor seating areas more comfortable and nicer to sit in.

Exterior lighting will also show off the architecture of your home and provide essential light to entrances making entering and exiting safer and easier in the hours of darkness.

Here are some examples of exterior lights

Wall

The most common exterior lights are fitted on and even inside walls—lots of designs are available. Wall lights can illuminate up, down, up and down out, and some can be adjusted and pointed in different directions. Flush wall lights that shine out are suitable for door entrances, while adjustable wall spotlights are useful for seating areas.

Bollard & Post

Lamps fitted into posts that are secured into the ground. Bollard lights are short and usually fitted in multiples along paths. Post lights are tall, like mini lamp posts and are excellent for lighting up the front of houses and driveways.

Decking

Decking lights are fitted into recesses cut into the decking. They shine upwards, providing enough light to sit out after dark and outlining the deck.

Floor

Floor lights are fitted to the ground and can be pointed in different directions. Good for lighting outdoor seating areas and enhancing exterior walls.

Building Regulations

All Electrical work (which includes lighting) must be undertaken by a certified and qualified Electrician and must conform to the latest building regulations.

We are NICIEC domestic installers and keep up to date with the building regulations. All work undertaken adheres to the required regulations and is accompanied by the relevant certification.

Rest assured, your lighting will be safe and legal and finished to the correct standard.

Security Lighting

One of the best ways to protect your home or business is by installing security lighting. Most security lighting operates on a motion sensor. Whenever the sensor is activated, the light comes on (and switches off a few minutes after the person/intruder has moved).

Research has shown that homes and businesses with security lighting are less likely to be burgled or vandalised. Security lighting aids CCTV, also providing more precise images.

Timed lights switch on in the hours of darkness, providing constant illumination. They are, however, more expensive to run than motion sensor lighting. As the bulbs are on longer consuming more electricity.

Some houses and businesses use a combination of timed lights and motion security lighting.

One of our electricians can visit your home/premises evaluate the vulnerable areas, and recommend the best positions and types of security lights. A free, no-obligation quote will also be written.

Commercial Lighting

TM Hughes & Son designs and build electrical installations for all types of commercial businesses, big and small.

If you have a shop and would like to highlight your stock in a certain way to help sell more, we will fit the optimal lighting for you.

If you manage a large warehouse and need your lighting upgraded to the latest energy-saving solutions, we can help you.

Expertly fitted modern lighting saves money on energy bills (which can amount to thousands of pounds per year for large companies) and has been shown to increase employee happiness and productivity.

We offer free no-obligation surveys and quotes for lighting installations to the businesses of Maldon. Contact us for further information.

Call – 01621 881560