Good light sources for housing?

fetito666 · August 2019

Hello!

Could someone recommend me some good light sources? Some places of my furnished home is kinda dark.

Thank you!

Sturmfaenger · August 2019

What light sources you use depends on the character of your home and your personal taste.
Mystic light from crystals or wild fire, artificial light or organic light sources....?

These are what I like for whole areas:

Daedric Brazier, Standing (if you dont mind wild burning fire in your home) craftable

Clockwork Illuminator, Solitary Capsule (looks a bit industrial, but you can sink it in walls, corners or ceiling, and its a very nice white light) craftable

Varla Stone, Glowing (blueish light) Luxury trader

Culanda Stone, Glowing (yellowish light) Luxury trader

red_bird · August 2019

Argonian Lanterns String puts out a good bit of light. (I lined the roof edge of my Rawl'kha house with them, and in the evening it twinkles gold.)

As @Sturmfaenger said, the Varla and Calundula stones are good. They're bright, so you light a lot of area with one. But they also definitely color the room. (In the huge Psijic Villa we were given, the white is a nice background for them, I think, and the colors break up endless marble into more defined areas.)

For cheap and easy to make yourself early on (blacksmithing level 1), you get good lighting in a small area from the Common Lantern - Stationary or Swinging.

Nestor · August 2019

The stones are nice, but rare.

You can also push tall light sources into the ground. Like the Orcish Braziers.

bluebird · August 2019

Agree with the previous posters. It's sad that most lamps have such weak light, wish they had an intensity setting.

Agreed with the Varla and Culanda stones. They can be quite overpowering though and if you want more natural light you may want to use both so they even each other out (one is urine yellow the other is cold blue).
Daedric Braziers are also great but they have a stronger orange tint to their light.
The Clockwork lamps (especially the Capsule and the Chandelier) also give off a lot of light, and it's a pleasant gold.
I'd also recommend the Orcish Chandeliers, they are some of the best hanging lamps you can use. Their style is also more versatile so they won't look too out of place in any home.

If you use a stronger light source, sometimes one or two lamps will be enough to light up an entire house. (My Snugpod is lit with a single Culanda Stone, Autumn's Gate with a single Clockwork Chandelier), and then you can place other lights for decoration only, not having to worry about their strength.

If you dislike the look of a lamp, you can sometimes sink it into the walls or floor or roof - you'll still get some of the light that way although it may look a little wonky. You can also combine a weaker good looking lamp with a stronger less attractive lamp - I placed an extra 'Clockwork Illuminator Compact' into the pretty but weak 'Redguard Lantern Delicate', and used 'Daedric Brazier, Tabletop' inside the 'Ancient Nord Braziers' which normally have a pathetic light.

ghastley · August 2019

You also need to watch out for some of the "fire" light sources having an attendant yellow fog. The Nord triple torch is particularly guilty of that.

fetito666 · August 2019

Yay! Thanks! You are fantastic!

I only have those light problems at night.

chuck-18_ESO · August 2019

I'm a big fan of the Psijic Glow Globes, personally. The small one is quite bright, if you don't mind the blue- colour. I'm big for hiding them inside the comparatively dull Telvanni lamps or Coldharbour Glowstalks. Lately, I've been hiding them inside the blue Hakoshae lantern for use in the Hall of the Lunar Champion.

Speaking of Glowstalks, the Vvardenfell Glowstalks have a beautiful warm light; they're definitely one of my favorite new lighting sources in the game. Stick one in a vase in the corner of your house, it can really improve the ambience!

sueblue · August 2019

bluebird wrote: »

Agreed with the Varla and Culanda stones. They can be quite overpowering though and if you want more natural light you may want to use both so they even each other out (one is urine yellow the other is cold blue).

The stones really do saturate a space unnaturally.

Tigerseye · August 2019

Redguard Chandeliers provide a nice, warm, natural, quite powerful light and are an attractive and versatile looking fitting, that fits in well with many racial styles, or mixes of styles.

They come in both 1, or 3, flame versions and you can even place the 3 flame ones back-to-back in longer rooms.

Ideally, they would also come in 7, or even more, flame versions, with longer chains, for the really big rooms, but they are still one of the best there is.

The general rule of thumb is that chandeliers with large, brazier-type flames provide more light and a better spread of light than those with multiple small candles.

Also, a good tip (whichever fittings you choose) is to place them at regular intervals, not too far apart and at various different heights.

So, chandeliers, some sconces on the walls and/or floor lamps and some candles/lamps on tables and nightstands, for example.

In the latter case, the Elsweyr Twist lamps provide very good light and are also very attractive in design.

Finally, try not to place the chandeliers too high - otherwise (even if you use the brighter ones), you will only be lighting the ceiling.

Darkmage1337 · August 2019

Decorative Skyshards!

And Imperial Braziers, Spiked. Tons of those in outside/courtyard areas. Lol.
I also use Breton Sconces for walls and Common Lanterns (both swinging & Stationary) for general usage.

Elara_Northwind · August 2019

The varla and culunda stones are really great, but they are as others have said, REALLY bright, so I personally stay away from those most of the time because it's just such an intense and unrealistic kind of light

But the new new Elsweyr Ceremonial Lanterns work in a very similar way, and are bright enough without being overpowering and removing realism and shadows etc. They are very orange or blue alone, but if you use both, they give a whiter light! You can even use two of the orange ones, and one blue one to create a slightly warmer light, and they can also be hidden, but as they look quite attractive, they don't really HAVE to be hidden, and can be used as wall lights too, if you flip them over

They are one of my favorite light sources at the moment!

Another good way to add light so that it is bright enough and looks realistic can be to layer lights, by putting in some ceiling ones first, then maybe a few wall lights, and then you can put candles or lamps in any areas which you feel need more light (I find the little Dwemer Candles are the brightest when it comes to candles in general, despite their weeny size) but that can take up quite a few slots if you aren't careful. It's a shame we don't get more natural light in houses really, through windows and such...

Some of the new Elsweyr lanterns in general are quite good for light, in comparison to some of the older ones. I had to remove some of the Elsweyr Lantern, Metal Ring from a build recently because they were just far too bright for what I was going for

pdblake · August 2019

Some of the khajiti stuff looks good, the braziers and hanging lamps and wall sconces, even the candles.