Quote:
Originally Posted by Lycoming
[SNIP]I love the planet, but my geriatric eyes need help, these new bulbs are not the answer; yes they illuminate, but to a lesser degree than the lights they are replacing, consequently people use more lights. Watch any news interviews from a government department. No power or light shortages there, lights and air-conditioning/heating everywhere. .
Best I stock up on AAA batteries for my reader's light.  |
My experience with (mostly) changing to CFLs is that it's pretty easy to wind up with both
more light and
better light. Here's how:
- Find a source of high quality CFL bulbs. In the U.S. I use www.1000bulbs.com -- you'll want to find a source that has inexpensive shipping to your location and that sells products that are spec'd for your country's electrical system.
- Figure out what color temperature of light best meets your needs -- this is the key to "better light." I find that 4300K is best for me (and even more importantly, it helps with my wife's SAD). Others prefer 2700K (which matches ordinary incandescents), or 3500K (which matches Halogen lights), or 6500K (which is quite similar to sunlight) or "Full Spectrum" (which is even closer to sunlight). Once you know what you prefer, standardize on it. One reason 4300K is good for me is that it represents a pretty good compromise between light color on the one hand, and making it easier to read on the other hand.
- Switch over a room at a time. Having bulbs of different color temperatures in the same room looks really weird.
- To get more light: Replace a 100W incandescent bulb with a 120W (or 150W) "equivalent" bulb. Don't just believe the marketing "equivalency" though. Rather, look for bulbs with higher measured output (it's stated in lumens in the US; I have no idea for other countries). Because the CFLs use 4x-5x less power than incandescents, you can put higher-output bulbs in your fixtures without risking overheating.
Watch out for the three big "gotchas" of CFLs:
- If your light has a dimmer, you must use a "dimmable" CFL. Non-dimmable CFLs will buzz, die very quickly, and may overheat drastically. You don't want this to happen!
- CFLs are (mostly) not appropriate for lights that are turned on and off very frequently (especially if the light is turned on only briefly). This is a consequence of the starter circuit having a lifetime (in number of starts) that is distinct from the lifetime of the bulb (in terms of powered-on hours). Stick with incandescents for that closet where the light is rarely on.
- Make sure the bulb will fit in the fixture!!! There are some amazingly small CFLs these days -- look for terms like "Cold Cathode" on the labelling. I find it useful to shop on the Web, in part because the vendor I use has downloadable tech specs that include exact physical size of each bulb. There's no point to buying a bulb that won't fit in the fixture where you wish to use it.
Good luck.
Xenophon