Tags: light bulbs
This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Lighting Tips & Techniques, Tips & Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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I am a new reader and enjoy your emails and website very much! I wondered if you could help me with a dilemma: in an effort to reduce energy usage I have decided to change from incandescent lamps to either CFL or LED.
My primary concern is safety as we choose to reduce our carbon footprint:
I am not as concerned about possible mercury exposure as I am about exposure to ultraviolet light from CFL usage. We take precautions in outdoors with sun screens, never use tanning beds, etc. Would we be risking our skin to development of skin cancers or other from the exposure to UV from CFLs?
We would optimally be looking for something in the 3500kelvin range, or better yet a full spectrum. If money were no object I would choose LED because of best energy cost reduction and no worries about health or environment impacts of recycling. But we are talking about over 50 recessed cans using 65R30 floods, 6 GU10 lamps, 6 GU10 lamps, plus 36 40 watt CA bulbs…a major investment even with CFLs!
Any advice in how to choose?
Thank you,
Lori Cameron
Dear Lori,
Your question is more common than you think! I personally believe that LED’s will take over fluorescents as the bulb of the future since they give wonderful light (newer ones no longer give off that cold blue light), they have no “side effects”, there is no problem with disposing of them, and they last so long you probably don’t have to worry about it anyway! The inital investment is still higher although prices are coming down every day. The recessed cans coming on the market this fall will be the most affordable and probably the most reliable. If you are contemplating switching, I would wait a few months for competitive pressures to bring prices down (certainly by the end of the year)!
Keep in touch.
Ashton Harrison