Home / Style Guide / Learn About Lighting / Set the Mood With the Right Switch Set the Mood With the Right Light Switch 5 ways you can get more control over your lighting. As the darker days of fall and winter hit, lighting inside the home gets used more than ever. Whether you’re putting the kids to bed or getting ready in the a.m. it helps to have more control over your lighting; wall controls like light switches and dimmers help you do just that. Here are a few ways you can take a light switch beyond “on and off” to match your lifestyle – and even improve your mood: Dimmer 337011WH 1. “But I’m still tired!” Harsh light. Blaring alarms. Tears. Does this sound a bit like your morning routine with the kids (or yourself)? Dimmer switches in bedrooms and baths let you ease into the day, helping your eyes (and your attitude) adjust to getting up. Combine a dimmer with a motion sensor switch in the bathroom, and the light can do the thinking for you – turning on slowly as you enter the room. 2. “Just one more story!” Winding children down at the end of the day – whether they’re teens or toddlers – gets a little easier with a dimmable ceiling light. Low light before bedtime helps the mind begin to relax and creates an overall calming feel in a room. 3. Full hands? No problem. Consider sensor switches in rooms that are used for one specific task or where hands are often busy carrying loads, like closets, pantries, garages and laundry rooms. These switches will turn on when doors are opened and off when motion isn’t detected for a set period of time – an amount you can customize to your needs. Basement stairs are also a great place for a sensor switch, especially if laundry is shuffled back and forth. Eloise 43720PN 4. Dine with your mood. Dinning areas are often the most-used location for a dimmer switch. They allow you to reduce the light during an intimate dinner and increase it to max power for a round of cards with friends. Wiscombe Park Collection 49502WZC 5. Welcome guests at they arrive. You can turn any outdoor light into a sensor operated one with the right light switch. Many can be set to turn on when motion is detected within a certain distance, assuring your porch or patio lights are always on when they need to be. Tips for choosing a dimmer switch: Dimmers are rated for the type of bulb they can dim as well as the amount of wattage they can accommodate. For example, a 10 light chandelier using 60-watt candelabra lamps would need a dimmer rated for incandescent bulbs of 600 watts of power or more. The most common dimmers are compatible with incandescent lighting and are readily available. These dimmers can also work with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, but the bulbs must specifically say they are dimmer-compatible. Most new LED fixtures and bulbs can be dimmed using a dimmer switch that’s specifically rated for use with LED. Be sure to check the information provided on the package to determine what’s right for your needs.