Buying lighting for your home online

14 October 2022
Lighting
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Lighting is an important part of the home and buying the right lamps to give rooms a good, cosy and quality atmosphere is never an easy task.

If the purchase is made online, then things get even more complicated, especially if one does not have the right information or does not know how to disentangle the many materials, colours, finishes, intensities and sizes available.

Here are some tips to help you make a safe and satisfying purchase and buy the best possible lamp for your home online.

Do some research on the retailer and the brand of the lamp

There is an infinite number of online shops from which you can buy any kind of furniture, including lamps: some are reliable, others are far less so! You have probably already heard 'horror' stories of friends or relatives who made a purchase online and then found themselves with a fist in their hand.

We therefore advise you to make sure you only buy items from reputable online stores and retailers that are fully operational and active.

Investigating the trustworthiness of an online shop is not difficult: just browse their website, search for information about their history, check whether their data and legal contacts are visible (e.g. the VAT number of the business), and above all read the reviews and opinions of other customers.

If you really want to go deeper, you can also look for some information about not only the store, but also the brand manufacturer: this way you will have a better overview of the lamp you wish to buy online.

Analyse your needs and understand what you expect from the lamp

Answer a few questions before buying the lamp you have your eye on online, such as:

What are you looking for? A lamp, of course, but what kind? A pendant lamp or a wall lamp? A small table lamp or a large floor lamp?
What aesthetics are you looking for in a lamp? Do you prefer ultra-minimalist lamps or more classic and flashy ones? Do you prefer metal or wood?
What don't you like in a lamp? Is there a style you really don't like? Or a type of lighting that doesn't suit you?
Which functions should the lamp have? For example, do you need a particular brightness or intensity?
How much do you want to spend?

Many projects have a set budget and knowing this in advance can save you a lot of trouble and misunderstandings.

To find the answers to these questions, spend some time searching for images of lamps you like, possibly already set in different rooms and places.

Since for each category of lamps there could be hundreds or thousands of options, it is ideal to narrow down the field as much as possible and arrive before the online purchase with very clear ideas.

Read the power and luminous flux information carefully

The key information you need to remember when you choose bulbs for your lamp are these:

Think about lumens (the amount of light emitted), not watts
Consider lifetime costs, not just the purchase price
Consider colour temperature for a good atmosphere
Understand what kind of light you need

People used to buy old-fashioned incandescent bulbs based on the amount of power (or watts) they used. With the new energy-efficient technologies now available, bulbs produce the same amount of light using much less energy. It no longer makes sense to think in watts: thinking in lumens is the best way to choose the light you need.

Moreover, it is wiser to choose bulbs that will lead you to spend less on lighting in the long run.

Two of the main differences between lighting technologies are durability and efficiency. For example, while a halogen bulb is cheaper to buy than an LED, a good quality LED lasts 5-10 times longer and consumes a quarter of the energy.

Pay attention to materials and components included or excluded

In the kitchen, in contact with vapours and fumes, materials such as glass, crystal or metal may become dirty more quickly. If there are children or pets in the house, a lamp made of extremely delicate materials may not be ideal.

If you care about environmental sustainability, there are excellent solutions made of wood, bamboo, woven paper or recycled elements.

The quality and aesthetics of a lamp is not only defined by its shapes or colours, but also by its materials: make sure you fully understand what materials the lamp you like is made of and ask yourself whether these are right for you.

In addition, carefully read the product sheet of the lamp and inform yourself about the components included and excluded from the purchase, such as light bulbs, finishes or cables: if you have any doubts, do not hesitate to contact customer service.

Before purchasing, visualise the product in the environment and test it

Once you have found a few lamps you like, take a breath before clicking the payment button: impulsive online shopping can be fun, but it is not at all effective.

Here's a trick to try before you buy a lamp online: use cardboard to recreate the general dimensions of the lamp you would like to buy and place it in the room, to really get a feel for the dimensions.

If you are in doubt about the colours, temperatures and intensities of the lights, experiment with other temporary bulbs to make sure that what you have in mind really works in the room where you will place the lamp and, above all, reflects your taste.

In general, our advice is to put the products in the online cart and think about it for a few days, trying to visualise the lamp in the real environment.

Rely on the retailer's customer service

Customer service and sales staff are trained to assist you. A good online retailer will work hard to give you as much detail as possible in the lamp files, but if you have any doubts, do not hesitate to contact the store's customer service via email, chat or telephone.

The team of experts will be happy to help you find the right solution for your online purchase, whether it is a single table lamp or you need to plan lighting for an entire house.