Some Bright Ideas

Modern technology has brought us some awesome products, devices and services.  Many of them have made our lives better and some much brighter.  Recently new technology has exploded in the home lighting market.  The trip to the store to purchase a replacement light bulb has become as complicated and confusing as purchasing a computer or smart phone.  There are countless types and styles of home lighting and corresponding documentation, some of which is at best misleading.  So what is the best choice?

Currently there are four basic options for most home lighting needs. They are: incandescent lights, standard fluorescent lamps, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and those that use light emitting diodes. (LED) The LED technology is the one that is getting the most current attention and you might think that it is the best option for all applications.  This may not be true.

Before choosing which type of lamp to use you need to think about where it will be installed.  For example, if you have a crawl space or attic into which you enter once or twice a year, it makes no sense to use an expensive energy saving LED or CFL to light the space.  It would take 100 years to recoup the cost. 

Some people report a less than good experience with CFL bulbs.  While most manufactures have been able to soften the light output making them give off a warmer glow then earlier designs, users report that the life of the bulbs is much shorter than advertised.  CFLs work best when they are turned on and left on.  

Applications like an often used bathroom where the light is turned on and off many times a day is not a good application for a CFL.  The repeated on and off cycles will significantly shorten the life span of the CFL lamp.

Another less than optimum application for a CFL is in any place that is very cold.  In a cold environment like an unheated garage if the temperature falls below freezing the light will take a long time to come up to full brightness.  In extremely cold, i.e. below zero environments, the bulb may never reach full intensity.

Most likely the future of lighting will be LED technology.  The energy efficiency and life cycles are measured in decades and not hours like incandescent bulbs.  Right now the unit cost is still high but is coming down quickly.  LED lamps come in all configurations and like CFLs they can be color corrected to mimic the soft glow of the traditional light bulb.  They can also be dimmed. Because they put off almost no heat, there are additional savings on air conditioning in spaces where they are used.

For applications where the light is used often like kitchens, family rooms and home offices, the LED is a good choice.  There is great debate about how efficient they really are but most agree they will save more energy and last many more years than any of the other options. I don’t suggest running out and replacing all your lights with LEDs but next time that lamp in the living room needs a new bulb, try a LED.  If you repeat this when other lights fail, slowly, over time, you will have installed enough lights to make a big difference in your energy bill.