I love my light bulbs!
Home Design September 16th, 2009
When switching from incandescent bulbs to energy savers you'll have to experiment a little until you find just the right level of ambient light to suit your taste.
I am an eternal home decorator and there’s nothing I hold more sacred than lighting. For me it’s what makes a house a home, regardless of colour schemes, furnishings or accessories. So you can imagine my concern about a year ago when I heard these new energy-saving light bulbs would soon be the only sort on the market. My thoughts immediately ran to garish-green fluorescent lamps of the sort you see in medical centre waiting rooms and cheap takeaways. In my panic, I hit every supermarket and hardware store in my area to stockpile as many of the old bulbs as I could. Trouble was, by the time I started raiding the stores, much of the stock had been sold only to be replaced by the new energy-smart versions. The other problem was my conscience was starting to get to me and I began to feel like an environmental vandal. So, now, rather than continuing to swim against the tide, I’ve decided to do the right thing and get to know more about these energy-efficient light bulbs to see if they’re as doleful as I’ve made them out to be. And it seems I may have been a little hasty in my concern.
By reading your article Energy efficient lighting and quality of light I’ve learned that not all energy-saving bulbs are the same in terms of the type of light they emit. For instance, there are LEDs and warm-white compact fluorescent lamps that will do a fine job in lots of places around my house. And for the lovely ambient light that I love, it’s okay to use a few incandescent bulbs here and there. I’ve also checked out the Energy Australia Energy Usage Guide and seen how much money I can save by making a significant switch to these new bulbs. And then, of course, there’s the reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions we’d make if we all worked together and used energy savers as the bigger percentage in our lighting equations - and I do love that.
