Attic Lighting

When it comes to an attic, many homeowners often neglect this area when it comes to lighting. Even though appearance of lighting does matter throughout a home, for an attic, safety needs to to be the number one priority. Below are some suggestions on implementing the right attic lighting in your home.

The majority of attics are small, tight spaces, so temperature will play a major role in determining the right type of lighting fixture that needs to be installed. For years, most homeowners typically installed a keyless fixture with a pull-chain and incandescent bulb. Even though it provide adequate illumination throughout the attic, the incandescent bulb generated an uncomfortable level of heat and created a safety issue since it could cause accidental burns if you came in direct contact with it. We recommend opting for either compact fluorescents or LED solutions, due to the fact both operate at cooler temperatures and generate little to no heat during operation.

We previously addresses how important the inside temperature is when it comes to attic lighting, now we will go over why the outside temperature does as well. In most cases, the temperature outside commonly penetrates into the attic, so if it is extremely hot or cold outside, the lifespan of the fixture could be drastically reduced. To prevent this from occurring, we recommend selecting a outdoor rated lighting solution that can handle the fluctuation changes in temperature and environmental conditions.

Depending on if you'll be using your attic as storage or finishing it out for an extra space in your home will ultimately determine the type of lighting that needs to be installed. If your just planning on using your attic for storage, you could opt for a fully encased lighting solution or strip fixtures for general visibility. We recommend placing these fixtures evenly throughout the attic so that shadows are not created throughout the space. However, if you plan on using the attic as an extra bedroom or bonus room, it will typically have heating and air, which will prevent the temperature from fluctuating throughout the year. This will provide you with more leeway when it comes to choosing the lighting that will be installed. Some great ideas we recommend include installing tape light along the perimeter of the attic, or using track lighting to direct light to areas that used more frequently.