Living rooms are common areas used for a wide variety of activities, so it's important to have flexible lighting solutions that can easily be adjusted. This can be done by dimming and/or switching the appropriate fixtures to suit the activity or mood. Overall, a warm soft light is usually best in this space.

General lighting

For most pendants or surface-mounted light fittings that currently use standard incandescent light bulbs, replacing these with warm white (2700K) CFLs of equivalent light output should enable you to maintain the light level and mood while reducing the room’s energy use by 80%.

If the bulbs are visible and the appearance of a standard CFL bulb is an issue, there is a range of covered and decorative CFLs to choose from that may suit the look you are after.

Alternatively, new generation halogen bulbs that look just like a clear incandescent bulb and come in a range of shapes including candle bulbs may be appropriate. These bulbs are still 30% more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs, last twice as long as a standard bulb and can be used on a dimmer circuit. To use a CFL on a dimmer circuit, a special dimmable version is required and this should be clearly labeled on the packaging.

If you have standard incandescent light bulbs that are recessed into your living room ceiling, you firstly need to establish whether the fitting has a built in reflector or is designed instead to work with a reflector bulb (do not assume the existing bulb inside the fitting is correct). If the fitting has a built-in reflector (a mirrored or reflective surface within the fitting), a new generation halogen bulb the same shape as a standard incandescent is likely to be most appropriate. If a reflector bulb is required, there are a range of CFL and energy efficient halogen replacement options that can reduce your energy bills.

For halogen spotlights, high efficiency IRC (infra-red coated) versions are available that use 30% less energy and last two and a half times as long as the standard lights. Alternatively, there are recessed CFL down lights available that come complete with light fitting and use less than half the electricity than the most efficient halogen spotlights. These lights are designed for general room lighting and are not designed for spot lighting applications or to replace lights that are on a dimmer circuit. Fitting CFL down lights is not a simple bulb replacement and a qualified electrician is required.

Task based lighting

People's age and eyesight have a real bearing on their requirements for task based lighting. So the optimum solution for you may be different to the next person. As a general rule, the older your eyes are the more light you will require for tasks such as reading.

For specific tasks such as reading craftwork or knitting, it is recommended that a specific task lighting is used as it is more efficient to light just the area you need to a suitably high level than to over-light the entire room.

If you need higher lighting levels for tasks such as reading, the use of energy efficient bulbs allows you to increase the wattage of your light bulb without exceeding the maximum wattage of the fitting. For example, if your reading lamp is rated to a maximum of a 60W bulb, you can safely replace this with a 20W ‘warm white’ (2700K) CFL and benefit from the equivalent lighting of a 100W traditional incandescent bulb without exceeding the fitting’s maximum wattage.