Archive for the ‘Homeowner Tips’ Category
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
The kitchen is an odd sort of place when it comes to dimming. You need to have lots of light for preparing meals, so it would seem to be a place you could skip. However, the kitchen is also a place where many people tend to congregate. To that end, your dimmer will receive much more of a workout, but you’ll end up finding you use it all the time. It becomes a more comfortable gathering place when dimmed, and you’ll find yourself only cracking it up to full to prepare a big meal. Most of the time it will be dimmed down some.
Note that some newer homes have fluorescent lights installed in the kitchen to really pump up the light levels for cooking. If you have a fluorescent light in the kitchen, you’ll need to refer to my postings about fluorescent dimming, which I haven’t written yet. Be on the lookout.
Tags: dimmers, fluorescents, incandescents, kitchens
Posted in Dimming, Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips, Incandescent | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Dimming in the bathroom is just as important as dimming in the bedroom. In addition to helping you get to sleep–as an extension of dimming in the bedroom–it can help you wake up in the morning more gently. We all know that flipping on the switch snaps us awake. Instead, if we start with a low level of light and continue bumping it up to full our body can ease into waking. I have found that having the same amount of sleep, I feel more refreshed when I ease into the morning.
Also, if you get up in the middle of the night for any reason being able to keep the lights in the bathroom low will make it easier to fall back asleep again.
As a final, cosmetic note, when getting ready for an evening out you should try to prepare yourself in same quality of light as the place you are going. If you’re going to a club or a nice restaurant, the lighting in those places will be dimmed, and you want to know what you’ll look like when you get there. Getting ready under full brightness is great for the daytime or office, but evenings out needs something special.
Tags: bathrooms, cosmetics, dimmers, sleep
Posted in Dimming, General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
One of the most important–and most commonly overlooked–places to use dimmers is your bedroom. During the day, having the lights on at full blast works fine. But in the evenings, the lower level of lighting not only creates a more calm and relaxed environment, but it actually gets your body ready to sleep. I start with my lights dimmed to about one-half, and as I go through the bedtime routine I keep bumping the lights lower and lower. By the time I’m ready to actually get in bed the lights are around 10-20% of full.
This can be especially useful to help children fall asleep. If the bedtime routine with your kids is tough, try to make sure that they stay out of rooms fully lit. This is especially true if they get out of bed and run into a fully lit hallway. The bright light jolts the body into a waking state. If you start lowering the lighting before the bedtime routine begins, and keep lowering it throughout, they will be physically synced into a nighttime rhythm. It won’t solve the issue completely, but it will help make other methods more effective.
Tags: dimmers, health, kids, sleep
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Monday, June 15th, 2009
Over the next few days I’ll give some tips for using dimmers in your home. I always recommend people replace their switches with dimmers. It is one of the quickest, easiest, and cheapest ways to improve your lighting environment. Low cost dimmers are available in hardware stores and big-box supply centers (Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc.) all over the country.
Some quick info:
- Dimming your incandescent loads 10% can save you 10% electricity and can make the bulbs last twice as long.
- Dimming 50% saves about 40% electricity and can make the bulbs last 20 times longer!
- Dimming incandescents shifts the color toward the red end, which most people perceive as warmer and more comfortable.
- Dimming can help with your sleep patterns.
Tags: dimmers, incandescents, lamp life, light bulbs
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Friday, June 12th, 2009
Maintenance for fluorescent lamps is very different than incandescents. With incandescent bulbs you just put them in and replace them when they stop working. Fluorescents don’t work that way.
Fluorescent lamps typically don’t “burn-out” and stop working. They slowly get dimmer and dimmer over time. They need to be replaced based on how long they have been on. It is different lengths of time for different lamps, but the box will probably list the expected life of the lamp, and it will be a number like 8,000 or 10,000 hours. If you have your lights on for about 6 hours a day, say 1 hour before work and 5 hours after (6 to 11), you’ll have them on a little more than 2,000 hours a year. The expected life is not the length of time until it stops working, it will work long after reaching its allotted time, it will just have gotten so dim as to need replacement. When you change the bulb it will seem much brighter.
There actually are filaments (similar to an incandescent light bulb) in a fluorescent lamp located at each end. When you see the ends of the lamp getting darker over time, that is the lamp aging and material burning off those filaments and depositing on the glass. If the ends get really dark you should replace the lamps.
Fluorescents need to be on for about 100 hours to stabilize the phosphors when brand new. During this time they will be brighter than their rating and the color may shift, but not enough for you to see it. It really only matters for dimming fluorescents, since if the stabilization isn’t done before the lamps are dimmed it can dramatically shorten their life.
Fluorescents are temperature sensitive. They work better in warmer temperatures, up to a point. When you first turn them on it may take a short time to come to full intensity as they warm up.
Tags: fluorescents, lamp life, light bulbs, maintenance
Posted in Dimming, Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | No Comments »
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
There are a couple health concerns that have been discussed in the media recently. Fortunately, the technical benefits of fluorescent lighting outweigh the risks.
The gas in fluorescent lamps is a mercury vapor, which is why some people are concerned about switching to fluorescents. However, the amount of mercury is small when compared to the amount of mercury released by coal-fired power plants. Since you’ll be changing out a 100 watt bulb for a (somewhere around) 25 watt bulb to get the same light, you reduce the generation needed at the power plant. (The US still generates most of its electricity from coal-fired plants.) Most researchers agree that switching to fluorescents will bring a net reduction in mercury emissions, and the EPA claims about a 2/3rd reduction in mercury emissions for changing a 60 watt incandescent to a 13 watt compact fluorescent.
Also, you can get lower mercury lamps by looking for TCLP compliant lamps. TCLP is a test the EPA has that involves crushing stuff up and see what leaches out.
Fluorescent lamps are classified as Universal Waste, which means you can’t throw it in the dump, but it doesn’t have to be handled like hazardous waste. It’s in the middle. You may or may not be able to recycle them in your area. The EPA has a page to help you figure out what’s available at their website: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/live.htm.
On a second matter, the current passing through the vapor generates UV (ultraviolet) rays, which are necessary to make the phosphor coating fluoresce. Much of the UV is shielded by the glass simply as a property of glass, nothing special is done to it. Some UV does come through, but it is a fairly small amount. “Full spectrum” fluorescent lamps are available, but I recommend you do not use them. They use older and less efficient phosphor coatings, they allow more UV through, and they are typically less efficient. There is also no definition of what “full spectrum” means, so you don’t know what you’re getting when you buy them.
Tags: disposal, environment, EPA, fluorescents, health, light bulbs, mercury, TCLP, universal waste, UV
Posted in Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Following up on yesterday’s post, there are fixes for the two common complaints regarding color and flicker.
- Color is tricky. The details regarding color for fluorescent lighting is complex and I’ll address it in another post, but for now just look for two things: the lamp’s color temperature and its CRI. The color temperature will be four digits followed by a “K,” such as 3000K or 4200K. The CRI will be two digits and may or may not be labeled, such as 72 or 86. For color temperature, select from three options: 3000K, 3500K, or 4000K. The 3000K will appear warmer, supporting reds and oranges better. The 4000K will appear cooler and brighter, supporting the blues and greens better. It comes down to personal preference, and you should see each before making a selection. For the CRI, select the highest number available, hopefully higher than 85. The color temperature and CRI will be printed on the bulb if it isn’t on the box. GE uses a code like F32T8/SPX35/ECO, where the SPX means a CRI of 86 and the 35 means a color temperature of 3500K. Philips and Sylvania use similar codes: F32T8/TL835/ALTO for Philips or FO32/835/XP/ECO for Sylvania. The 8 means a CRI of 86 for Philips and 82 for Sylvania (the addition of XP raises it to 85) and the 35 means a color temperature of 3500K. Those three codes will basically provide you the same lamp.
- Flicker is not tricky. Flicker can be solved by using electronic instead of magnetic ballasts. Older, magnetic ballasts operate at 60 Hz, as discussed yesterday. Electronic ballasts operate at thousands of cycles per second, so it is impossible to see the flicker. Plus, they are much quieter than older ballasts, so if you hear a ballast buzzing, change it!
Tags: ballasts, color temperature, complaints, CRI, fixes, fluorescents, light bulbs
Posted in Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
Since fluorescent lighting is much more efficient it would seem to be good way to save on energy consumption. However, most people don’t want to switch to fluorescents. There are basically two main complaints.
- I hate the color. It’s not so much the color as the lack of color. Incandescent, like sunlight, has a wide “spectral distribution,” which simply means it looks white because it has all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. Because the light in a fluorescent lamp is generated by the phosphor coating on the inside of the lamp (see yesterday’s post), rather than incandescence, the spectral range is reduced. Think of a rainbow with parts missing. Objects and people that you see will looked dingy if the colors on them are not present in the fluorescent lamp’s “rainbow.” Although most people can’t quite put their finger on it, that’s why they think that things just look bad under fluorescent lights.
- I hate the flickering. The “flicker” that some people see is a real problem and can lead to headaches as well as annoyance. It is caused by the ballast. Old ballasts operate at 60 cycles per second, the same as the cycle supplied from the power company. Each end of the lamp is actually firing off 60 times per second, which is slow enough some people can see it, usually in their peripheral vision.
There are good fixes for these complaints, which is tomorrow’s posting topic.
Tags: ballasts, color, complaints, fluorescents, light bulbs
Posted in Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | No Comments »
Monday, June 8th, 2009
This week I’ll be going over the basics of fluorescent lighting.
The principles of fluorescent lighting were discovered before Thomas Edison invented his incandescent lighting bulb. However, fluorescent lighting is more complex than an incandescent, so were commercially available first and quickly became the standard.
Fluorescent ligting is a two-step process: energy passes through a gas, which releases more energy that acts upon the coating on the inside of the glass. The light is generated by causing this coating to fluoresce, hence, “fluorescent lighting.”
Much of the complexity of fluorescent lighting comes from the fact that the power flowing through a gas instead of a filament has “negative resistance.” That means that the more electricity you give a lamp the more it tries to draw. It quickly takes in some much power that it bursts. To control the power a second piece of equipment is needed, called a ballast. To operate a fluorescent lamp the ballast must match the voltage and wattage design of the lamp. This means fluorescent lighting require a lot of parts, so incandescent lamps are the simple alternative.
Tomorrow: common complaints.
Tags: ballasts, fluorescents, light bulbs
Posted in Fluorescent (and CFL), General Knowledge, Homeowner Tips | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 5th, 2009
Although the two tips posted a couple days ago are quick and easy to do, they aren’t going to provide you with the savings you’ll get from other, more comprehensive methods. Also, your room won’t be as bright as before. The amount of light created by a regular light bulb is directly related to how much power it is using, so reducing the power will reduce the light. However, most of the time a reduction of around 8% won’t be noticeable. However, if you’re using them in a single lamp fixture that is the only source in an entire room you might notice the difference. Or, you may not want to change the lamp in your reading light, but it is a start.
You also won’t get anywhere close to the savings you would get from switching to compact fluorescents. However, you also don’t have to make the lifestyle changes associated with switching to compact fluorescents either. Using compact fluorescent properly involves understanding color and daytime versus nighttime usage. I believe that rampant misapplication of CFL lamps is the reason they haven’t caught on as quickly as their proponents would like. However, in a future blog I’ll discuss ways you can use CFLs properly to improve your life.
Tags: dimmers, incandescents, light bulbs
Posted in Homeowner Tips, Incandescent | No Comments »
