Lighting

by Bela
(Aarhus, Denmark)

Although this is not about housing per se, if you do succeed in arranging to rent a house or apartment, and if, as is usual, it is unfurnished, then you should be aware that there are likely to be no lights fitted, except in rooms that have no windows. And to make it more fun, understanding the light fittings is like some moving-to-Denmark rite of passage. (We and other new immigrants share our "how did you deal with the lights" stories when we are comparing our experiences, if that gives you any idea.)

You'll probably figure out quickly that those little panels with holes in them on the wall have something to do with fitting lights. But even then, it's all a bit of a mystery. We had to go to a local hardware shop to ask what to do with them. And my partner is no slouch about such things....in the country we came from, that is.

So, my advice would be: come with at least one stand-up lamp that you can plug in. If you can't come with one, then at least plan to buy one (or more), on or before the day you move into your house. that way, you can deal with the light fitting challenge at your leisure.

Practically speaking, what we found was that many of the stores we could identify as selling lights were pretty expensive. I do not want this to stand as some overall recommendation, but in our case, we were lucky to stumble across Harald Nyborg. What they sell is not pretty, but it's practical, affordable, and the lamp we bought there threw enough light to keep us sane until we sorted other things out.

Bela,

Yes, lighting is one of the fun experiences of moving into a new place. The process of hooking up the lights is just a matter or connecting two wires. Pretty standard stuff and any hardware store like Bauhaus or Sylvans can show you how.

As for Harald Nyborg, I concur, great prices and another place is Jem og Fixx. They are mentioned in the shopping section. May have to do a video on how to connect the lights for new expats.

Bela ... thank you for your contribution.

Charlie
FYI Denmark