Energy efficient lighting ideas for basements

Proper lighting can produce amazing transformations in the basements. Many basements are unappealing because of lighting (or lack of it). To avoid this fact, you should maximize natural light and implement an efficient electrical lighting.

The importance of natural lighting

In the case of basements, natural day lighting involves placing windows and skylights in the basement, in order to bring sunlight into it, providing a better indoors illumination and reducing artificial lighting and bills.

Basement windows should be located and dimensioned correctly, but since it may be impossible to introduce or improve windows in the basement, you may bet on tubular skylights.

For more details:
Day lighting
Skylights

Tubular skylights for your basement

Tubular skylights are an excellent idea for enhancing day lighting in the basements: they are roof-mounted light collectors capable of guiding sunlight into the basements, to a system of lens that spreads sunlight throughout the basement…

For more tips and ideas:
Skylights basics

Image source: Energy Star
 

Electrical lighting

There are many possibilities concerning electrical lighting for basements:

- recessed lights and fluorescent fixtures for basic general lighting. 

Wall and other surface mounted spotlights and directional lights for decorative lighting effects. They are also excellent for highlighting pictures or other elements, and also to provide task lightings…

- small fluorescent fixtures for storage closets: mounted inside the closet, above the door header, they provide directional lighting on the cabinet contents.

You may also consider energy efficient occupancy sensors: they allow energy savings with their automatic lighting control: they turn lights on when someone comes downstairs, and turn lights off when people aren't present in the basement. 
 

Qualified electrical lights

For the electrical lights, chose Energy Star or other qualified fluorescent fixtures, surface mounted, directional lights and other. There are plenty of alternatives to incandescent, and they offer substantial energy savings.

Objections to the type of glow thrown by fluorescent lamps don’t make much sense. You can choose the Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the lamp, which ranges from 0–100 (natural daylight = 100). A CRI of 80 and above produces the equivalent to true color.
 

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