GREEN LIGHTING

CFL - LED - What's a girl to do?

It's a pretty confusing world out there with the rapidly changing techonology in lighting.

We've just begun to get used to the idea of CFL's and now LED's are making the news. See this article and some of the newest LED designs:http://www.dwell.com/articles/shine-on-you-crazy-diode.html

You'll notice that all of the designs shown on the Dwell site are VERY contemporary. Right now that is all that seems to be available. (As soon as Frederick Cooper and Chapman show LED designs in a traditional lamp, I will be sure to post it on this blog!) But even if you are not a contemporary lighting fan, it doesn't hurt to be learning about the new technology.

Two years ago, the choices in CFL's were very limited, and the results in residential applications left a lot to be desired. But now there are numerous options in the CFL camp, including bulb shapes, color temperature, and dimmable CFL's. The quality of the bulb is very important. (CFL's manufactured in the USA are usually superior to offshore sources.)

Last fall I attended an ASID Continuing Education course on Energy Efficient Residential Lighting, and I am still studying and absorbing all the facts. The bottom line is that you can save money by using CFL's in almost every place that you use an old technology lamp, AND MOST IMPORTANT, you can probably find a CFL that is just as pleasing to you as your old type A bulb. But it takes a little research, experimenting, and maybe even some math!!

Regarding the LED's - at the time I took the Continuing Ed course, the word on LED was that even though there is information being printed on the new Dept of Energy Label (http://www.ledinside.com/DOE_announces_Lighting_Facts_Label_2010), when you get to the color temperature (degrees Kelvin), it is not easy to completely pin this down, since the RGB deteriorates differently over time, so the color of the light WILL CHANGE. This means that you can pay a huge amount for a long lasting LED, but that the color of that LED may change over the life of the bulb. So today, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. (But that could be different tomorrow!!)