Are you buying a new table lamp? The odds are: you could buy a high quality table lamp that fits the bill or you could end up purchasing a defective lamp. That will all boil down to how clever a buyer you are.
If you think you are not that clever as buyer, then learn how a clever buyer does it.
A clever buyer does the following:
1. Measure the height of the lighting fixture to know whether it is tall enough to cast light over the shoulder or not. This is important especially for lamps that are to be placed on chair-side table. The bottom edge of the lamp shade should be just even with the cheek bone when sitting and the light should cast visibly on the page when reading.
2. Determine the table lamp's maximum wattage. A lamp for normal lighting purposes should have more or less 50 watts. But for reading lamps, it should offer at least 150 watts. Clever buyers even go for a tri-light lamp that offers 50 watts, 100 watts and 150 watts for versatility.
3. Check if the bottom edge of the lamp shade hides the bulb socket when it is a feet away. If the bulb socket is exposed, then that's a bad lamp to buy because the eyes will be exposed to much glare which can cause eye damage.
4. Inspect the lamp shade to see if it has the qualities that the clever buyer wants. The lamp shade could either reduce or maximize light output. A white fabric shade allows the highest light output while a darker shade can limit it.
A lamp that emits bright light is good for study areas for maximum lighting while a less brighter lamp is good for entry ways. And so, a clever buyer always takes note of that.
5. Request to switch lamp shades to satisfy what she needs in a lamp. She would go to the lamp store manager to do that.
6. Bring the lighting fixture home and turn it on at different times of the day to check how it works under different lighting conditions. If a clever buyer is not satisfied, she goes back to the lamp store and to ask for a full refund or for a product exchange. She will also ask for refund or exchange when the table lamp is too tall, too bulky, too bright or too dark.
7. After buying the high quality lamp they are looking for, a clever settle on her chair reading a book on their hand while sipping a cup of coffee under the glowing light of her newly-bought table lamp.
So, when you are buying new tall table lamps, do what a clever buyer does and you'll be fine.