Setting up a good green home starts with energy efficiency. Traditional incandescent light globes lose almost 90 per cent of their energy in generating heat - only 10 per cent of the electricity used is actually going into lighting your room. And because of their various filaments and parts, incandescent bulbs generally have a much shorter life span than their more energy efficient counter parts.
Installing energy efficient globes is one of the most cost effective and easiest options available for a good green home. Some companies had even traditionally given out energy and water saving “packs” for people to try out. Nowadays, these energy saving globes are available everywhere - so the question becomes, which light fitting is right for you?
Eco Home Tip # 36 - The lowdown on CFL - Compact Fluorescent (CFLs) are the most common energy saving fitting. CFLs use just about 20 percent of the energy required for the same amount of light from an incandescent globe and last 10 times as as long. All in all, a CFL will help reduce the cost of lighting your home by as much as 60 %.
Eco Home Tip # 37 - Keep your CFLs close, if shaded - a British study last year revealed that CFLs produced a small amount of UV radiation when used unshaded and in close proximity. Open globes were of note, which “encapsulated” globes were considered safe. So if you’re using a work lamp with a CFL, keep it shaded of opt for an encapsulated globe instead.
Eco Home Tip # 38 - Recycling your CFLs - The typical CFL contains a minute 4 mg of mercury sealed in its glass tubing. Some manufacturers have lowered its CFL mercury content to as little as 1 - 2.5 mg. Handle your CFLs with care and take advantage of recycling programs for CFLs to keep mercury from ending up in landfill.
Eco Home Tip # 39 - Leading by example with LEDs - Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are another popular energy efficient lighting option, especially to replace halogen globes and downlights in your home. The small cluster of diodes can be arranged in a number of configurations and sizes to suit your home. LEDs have been traditionally found in electronics including clocks, and have a variety of uses in terms of producing a broad spectrum of bright coloured light. LEDs are the perfect substitute to the more heat intensive halogen globes and last for over 50,000 - 60,000 hours and uses 70 percent less energy than standard halogen globes. LEDs are also mercury free.
Lighting a home can account for as much as 20 percent of a home’s energy use. Energy saving lights are simply a bright idea for your green home.
Looking for more eco home tips and ideas? Visit the Green Pages directory for more great eco home tips and ideas!
Good for the Maryland Public Service Commission for giving 250,000 Maryland residents two free CFLs each to test out this new bulb. Not all compact light bulbs are equal, and most of us know nothing about them - so here’s a little information to help when choosing CFLs.
If you are a green-minded person, then by buying the Energy Star label, you will be buying a bulb that has been tested to meet operating, reliability and energy efficiency criteria.
CFLs are more expensive than an incandescent, but considering that CFLs last about 8 times as long as an incandescent, that actually represents a lot of savings.
Also consider this: if you replace a l00 watt incandescent with a 25 watt CFL, you will save a whopping $30.00 for the life of the CFL. (This can vary slightly according to individual state costs).
However, something not very often taken into account is to choose the right type of CFL for each room, or for each situation, if you have more than one lamp. The shade of white is differentiated by the color temperature marked on the bulb.
This is identified by correlated color temperature (CCT) and measured by Kelvin (K). Warmer colors correspond to lower Kelvin numbers, while higher Kelvin numbers indicate a cooler, bluer light.
Mostly you will find a limited choice, and most CFLs on the market are 2700-3000 K and project soft white or “warm” light. These bulbs enhance any warm colors such as red, yellow and orange that may be found in the home.
For optimal reading, choose a bulb with a slightly higher K rating (up to 3500 K), but as that K rating increases (to 4100, 5000 and 6500K) the effect is increasingly white to bluish light that enhances cooler colors such as blue, green and violet.
These higher K-rated lights are often referred to simply as “daylight”.
If you are happy with the type of lighting you have in your home, but would like to economize and help the environment by using CFLs, use the following conversion chart to replace the old fashioned bulbs.
40watt bulbs will equal 9-11 wattage;
60watt bulbs will equal 13-16 wattage;
75 watt bulbs will equal 18-20 wattage.
For the ‘green’ among us, who have heard that these CFLs contain mercury - this is true. However each bulb contains about 1% of the amount of mercury we may have in one filling in our mouth, so it is considered to be insignificant.
In the midst of a discussion about making your home more energy efficient by sealing the building envelope, upgrading to a renewable energy heating/cooling system, putting on a highly-reflective insulated metal roof, and adding insulation, many people ask, “Does energy-efficient lighting really matter?” The short answer is “Yes!”
For some families, lighting matters more than it does for other families. If you are coping with young children who just can’t remember to turn the light off when they leave the room or very old lighting fixtures, you might see a big benefit of upgrading your lighting. When you consider that lighting incurs about 20% of your electric bill, upgrades can result in a big savings for your family.
There are several changes you can make to improve the energy efficiency of the lighting in your home.
Switch your light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs. Keep in mind that CFLs cost more to purchase, but they should last at least 5 years. Use the right type of CFL in each fixture – use three-way bulbs in three-way fixtures, use covered reflectors in recessed fixtures, and use dimmer bulbs in sockets attached to a dimmer switch. Keep in mind also that fluorescent bulbs use a little bit more power when they are turned on, but then use only about 25% as much energy as incandescent bulbs when they are on. If you plan to make the switch gradually, start by replacing bulbs in the most frequently used fixtures.
Upgrade lighting fixtures to EnergyStar rated efficient fixtures. Like fluorescent bulbs, fluorescent fixtures may cost a little bit more to purchase, but they will use 75% less energy than incandescent fixtures. They also provide light without creating as much heat.
Switch to LED lighting where it makes sense. Light-emitting diode (LED) lights use an entirely new technology. LEDs use very little power to light an area. They work by moving electrons through a semiconductor material. With normal use, they last more than 20 years and use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lights. Because these lights produce only minimal heat, they are perfect for places where air circulation might be restricted, such as recessed lights.
Make use of switches and devices that help you save power. For example, if you have young children who tend to forget to turn off lights, use a motion-activated switch or a timer that will turn the light off after a given amount of time. If everyone is out of the house all day, but you want to come home to a well-lit house, put key lighting fixtures on timers instead of leaving them on all day. Instead of traditional night-lights or leaving lights on at night, use motion activated lights to help people see where they are going. If your family tends to use certain rooms at regular times of day, install timed dimmers on lights to use less energy when it is not needed. You can even use switches that adjust the brightness of the lights as there is more natural light in the morning and less at night.
Considering that lighting accounts for about 20% of your total energy bill, energy-efficient lighting does make a difference. By switching to energy-efficient bulbs and fixtures and using timers, dimmers and other special switches, you can make a difference in your total energy usage. Cooler-burning lights will also prevent some heating in your home when lights are burning. Finally, you will have whiter and brighter light in your home.
I wonder how many Fluorescent light tubes were in 9-11 in the Twin Towers, I think it makes New York city a toxic dump site, What do you think?
Arctic Monkeys playing Fluorescent Adolescent live in Glastonbury 2007.
While you would spend time and effort setting up the lighting for your master bedroom and living rooms, this in no way takes away the importance of good lighting for the rest of the house. Continuing from last week’s article, in Part II, let us see some more lighting solutions for the rest of your house.
Bathroom: Most modern houses have the bathroom attached to the bedroom. You should make sure your bathroom lights do not play havoc with the settings of your bedroom furniture. Place the lights where the glare does not shine directly on your bed when the bathroom door is open. Having taken care of that little detail, use an adequately bright light to light up the bathroom. You may consider using a downlighter (a bulb affixed with the shade on top) to light up the mirror and the basin. An uplighter could similarly be used to highlight any particular spot you would like to accentuate – a designer window, or a specially designed wall, for example.
Children’s Room: Children spend quality time in their room and undertake a variety of activities – from studying, playing, listening to music, dancing, relaxing, and of course, sleeping. Lighting in the children’s room should complement all these activities, and at the same time focus on safety as well.
Ensure the switch is close to the entrance to enable you to use it while entering or leaving the room. Use bedside lamps beside the single platform beds to allow them to do some bedtime reading. Keep a provision for extras like a music system, PC etc, besides the highly essential table lamp on the study table. A smart table lamp is sure to attract your teenager to at least sit at that table – studies would hopefully follow.
Dining Room: The basic need of lights in the dining room is to light up the food. Your special dinner set will definitely look best under bright arc lights. Use hanging halogen lights just over the dining table, so as to avoid spillover of extra light to the sectional sofas in the living room. Soft white light may be used to light up the rest of the room, with a dimmer to enhance that romantic feeling whenever you are in the right mood. Light up the bar specially – it’s the place that is going to command the maximum attention during any party!
Kitchen: Coming to that most important of rooms where the lady of the house spends a lot of her time. More so, everyone would chip in with some kind of help at some time or the other. Since cleanliness is very important here, lighting that lights up all the horizontal and vertical spaces is essential. Use a circular CFL for shadow free, bright results. The refrigerator or chopping platform could be given a focus light of its own.
Balcony, Staircase, Other Common Spaces: These fall under the category of common areas, and functionality is the key factor here – people are going to use it for movement all the time. A light in the balcony would be lit for long periods of time, hence it is best to go for an energy efficient option like a CFL – the wattage can be small. Wall lights are suitable for staircases to light up all the stairs well.
By following these tips, you will cut down drastically on your electricity bills. Save the extra money for a well deserved vacation. And have a beer on me as well!
Before we answer that lets look at how traditional bulbs work
In a traditional bulb there is a wire filament, basically a very thin coiled wire. When a current is passed through it gets hot and so glows. Just like the ring on an electric stove glows when turned on. A lot of energy is wasted in these bulbs as a lot of the energy is turned into heat, which is great for a stove, not so great for a light source.
Traditional bulbs ruled the roost for many years till Compact Fluorescent Lamps CFL’s came along. CFs contain no filament and are a bit more complex. Basically the bulb contains a mix of argon gas and mercury vapor. When a current passes through this mix if produces ultraviolet light. This is not much use for our eyes but the inside of the tubes are coated with phosphorus. Ultraviolet light excites the phosphorus which gives off a bright white light. CFL’s are more efficient than traditional filament bulbs, but they do still waste energy in the form of heat and there are environmental concerns with the use of mercury in their manufacture. They do cost more but their longer life means that you do save money in the long run
Light Emitting Diodes LEDS are the new contenders for lighting your home and office. An LED is made by join two materials which have very special properties. N-types have extra electrons and P-Types which are missing electrons. A match made in heaven. Putting a current though these two materials helps the spare electrons flow from the N type to the P type. When the electrons join onto the P-type energy is released in the form of light. The colour of light that is produced depends upon the materials used . This is why so many products originally had red LEDS as it was much easier to make red ones. Now its possible to make a range of colours. White is produced by our old friend phosphorus.
So why are LEDs so great that they get their own blog?
They use a lot less energy than traditional bulbs and CFL’s . Good for the environment and for your electricity bill They last much longer than traditional bulbs and CFL’s. Good for the environment and your wallet. An LED can last over 10 years Less hazardous to manufacture and use. Safer for the environment and you, no dangerous vapor released or broken glass if you did manage to break one open Generate much less heat. Good for your fingers, safer to use around children
The pros and cons of Compact Fluorescent (CF) light bulbs, with specific regard to recycling. While Compact Fluorescents last a long time and save lots of electricity, the CF bulbs contain mercury and must be disposed of properly.
Jebidiah says, “Repent you Heethen!” Cortmeister says, “Edward Teller, father of the H-bomb and Reagan administration Star Wars Program Director, is behind the atmosphere alteration and space mirror scheme.
Stylish home lighting has become popular all over the world. All kinds of indoor lighting and outdoor lighting are being used extensively for enhanced home decor and interior design purposes. However, these lights and lighting fixtures can often be neither easy to find and install, nor cheap. With regard to the current economic climate, many home owners will be looking to save money. It is important that you consider your budget when choosing your lighting and fixtures. You may wish to choose lighting which is not only in vogue but also doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket, or you may wish to save costs by using lower energy options.
There are several home lighting options that can save you a lot, without sacrificing the style aspect of your home even one bit! We will discuss some tips and tricks to maintain a short and clean budget and yet be right on top of the fashion fiesta.
Using Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs can light your home in a much livelier way, and yet be really low on the power costs. Energy wastage and pollution also is avoidable to a much larger degree than it is with conventional light bulbs. However, using a CFL lamp makes the ambience much more radiant in its own unique way, with the light being much more on the whiter side. It can work wonders as accent lighting, with paintings and colored features coming out in their correct contrasts.
Another way to save money while incorporating indoor lighting and outdoor lighting in your interior design budget is Do-It-Yourself home lighting. Pendants, LED lighting, light fixtures, spotlights, and other lighting types can be fixed by you yourself, albeit with some guidance. Employing professional resources in regard to lighting is very expensive, to say the least.
Not only this, if you wish to use two lighting styles in a single room, you can do so in an inexpensive way as well. Flooding the room with CFL bulbs, (which incidentally is a great way to keep costs of lighting to a minimum) you can use chandeliers or spotlights to help best features of the room stand apart form the ordinarily lit areas. Recessed lighting too, can be implemented in the same way.
However, always remember that cheap lights might not do the trick. It is only through wise selection and shopping around that you can keep your budget in check and yet sure of high quality and service. There are several online portals that offer home lighting options, which are not only of the highest quality available but also are affordably priced. One of the best sites in the fray is LightMyHome, offering an eclectic mix of elegant lighting designs and products, all within the reach of regular consumers with a restricted budget. Ideal home lighting, after all, isn’t that expensive and as tough to achieve as it seems!