Saving Cash With Flourescents | Not Just A Dull Flicker Anymore
Fluorescent lights no longer offer just a dull flicker. Yes they are the ecological option to incandescent light bulbs, but they can also be funky and are a favourite of contemporary designers. So why are they a good ecological choice, and what’s so fashionable about them?
Any electrician can tell you that fluorescent lights tend to last four to ten times as long as incandescent (filament) light bulbs and use about 20% of the energy. The trouble with incandescent light bulbs is that 95% of the electricity they use is lost through heat and merely 5% is in fact utilized to light up a room.
While fluorescent bulbs are more expensive to buy at first, they will save you cash in the long run, typically paying for themselves in under a year. And they fit in nearly all existing light fixtures, so you won’t even need an electrician to change your fixtures.
One more direct green advantage is that because the light bulbs last so much longer they create less waste for the garbage dump as fewer are being tossed away each year. And once you’re fitting them and doing your part, you might even feel so green and environmentally aware that you take your responsibilities further and turn lights off when they’re not being utilized.
When you do need to toss away fluorescent light bulbs then endeavor and do so responsibly. Unlike normal light bulbs, they have a tiny quantity of mercury which is ecologically damaging if they are binned, so ask your local board about recycling facilities for light bulbs and do your part to keep them out of landfill.
Now for the fun part! Fluorescent lights are wonderful if you want to make a colour wash on the wall or against curtains. They may be recessed so that the light seems to come magically from a hidden source and if the light shines against a reflective surface, you can create a really dramatic effect. You can also talk to your electrician about installing more than one fluorescent tube so that you have a choice of colours at your fingertips.
FL lights of course happen in white but also four fundamental colours – red, yellow, green and blue. If none of these suit your scheme, you might put a white light behind a coloured filter of your choice or even get coloured theatrical lighting goo which can be applied to the bulb to achieve the effect you’re after. There are even companies that sell bulbs already coated, offering a range of colours if you can’t face doing it yourself.
If you’re putting together a lighting plan bear in mind that fluorescent white light tends to look calm instead of than warm. Fluorescent bulbs can be integrated into a dimmer system when of course they turn out to be less bright, but they won’t create a warm glow like a normal bulb. As well as being put onto dimmers your electrician could go one step further and incorporate them into a system of pre-set scenes to make numerous mood choices for your room.
The reality is that in 2007 the US Administration announced that normal light bulbs are to be barred by 2011, which should help save around 5 million tonnes of CO2 by US household users alone. So it makes sense to get ready now for this new era in lighting. Light bulbs in the US are now graded A-G for ecological efficiency, so it’s easy to pick ones that do less damage and that will save you money in the mid and long term. And it doesn’t mean living in darkness – fluorescent lights have come a long way since their flickering early stages.
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