Clear Home Lighting

While the incandescent light bulb has provided illumination to countless homes worldwide and was clearly innovative in its day, the design was not energy efficient. Back then, providing light was the goal.  Today, the goal has been upgraded to providing light that is energy efficient. With the current emphasis in the United States on energy efficiency, new energy standards have been mandated by Congress, and the non-energy efficient incandescent light bulb will be phased-out of the consumer markets in the United State over the next few years.

Incandescent light bulbs will be replaced with energy efficient bulbs, such as the newer high-efficiency compact fluorescent and light emitting diode, to provide lights for the home. With the use of incandescent light bulbs, the emphasis has tended to be on the wattage used by the bulb.  Watts is a measure of energy consumption.  It is not a measure of the brightness of the light emitted by the light bulb. Lumens is a measure of  bulb brightness.  However, with the incandescent light bulb, the higher the watts used by the light bulb, on the home light fixture, the brighter the light emitted by the bulb tended to be.

With current energy-efficient technology, fewer watts are needed to provide  equal or more lumens. The difference in energy consumption between energy efficient and non-energy efficient light design is significant.  For example,  as previously mentioned,  compact fluorescent light bulbs tend to be more  energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, consuming less energy, while producing the same or greater amounts of light than an incandescent light bulb. This fact can be illustrated by the following information provided by a light bulb manufacturer:  a common incandescent  60 watt light bulb puts out about 840 lumens and has an estimated life expectancy of about 1,000 hours. By comparison, a compact fluorescent light bulb that uses 14 watts puts out about  900 lumens and has an estimated life expectancy of about 10,000 hours.

Notice the significant difference in energy consumption, 60 watts versus 14 watts.  Moreover, notice the significant difference in the amount of illumination time the lights are reportedly designed to illuminate, 1,000 hours versus 10,000 hours.   In other words,  an incandescent light bulb that provides 840 lumens and consumes 60 watts tends to last about 1,000 hours. By comparison, a compact fluorescent light bulb that uses 14 watts provides 900 lumens and is estimated to last 10,000 hours.  Clearly, the implication for how these energy efficient light bulbs will impact the consumption of energy used by home lighting fixtures is evident, whether it is used in exterior habitat lights or interior habitat lights.

Consumers may also want to make special note of the life expectancy of the bulbs given that energy-efficient bulbs tend to last longer.  The life expectancy of the light bulb is  significant not only because fewer light bulbs need to be bought by consumers given that they last longer,  but also due to the fact that if fewer light bulbs are used, fewer need to be disposed, which is better for the natural environment.

In addition to the upcoming phasing-out of inefficient incandescent light bulbs in the United States,  the Federal Trade Commission announced that changes to the  package labeling on the bulbs is also occurring.  One of the main differences on the package labeling will be the emphasis on lumens instead of watts on the front of the package label.  The new packaging information that will be provided starting in 2011 will  include the following information to help consumers pick the best light bulb to meet their  lighting needs: (1)  brightness, as measured in lumens; (2)  estimated energy cost; (3)  estimated life expectancy; (4)  wattage; (5) whether or not the bulb contains mercury.  As of this writing, it is not yet clear if new package labeling will also apply to candelabra light bulbs, such as the ones used in some home light fixtures that hang from the ceiling.

Thus, while Thomas Edison made having home light  possible for millions of households worldwide with his incandescent light bulb, technology has improved lighting, making it possible to use lighting significantly more efficiently.   As a consequence, the incandescent light bulb will be phased-out of the United States  market place, and new labeling on light bulbs that emphasize lumens instead of watts will be used.

Following: motion sensor lights.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 5:34 pm and is filed under lighting home interiors and exteriors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.