Lighting & Controls06
As LEDs jostle with CFLs for market share, buyers must sift through performance differences among brands.
WHAT MAKES IT GREEN?
LIGHTING THE FUTURE
Why Light Temperature Matters Research has shown that the amount and quality of light affects human beings on many levels-from their ability to concentrate to their stress levels (in the workplace) to their level of productivity. Men and women also respond differently to light in some settings.
The science of lighting is changing dramatically. In fact, the familiar incandescent light bulb is about to go extinct. The EU started phasing them out last year, and the United States is on track to get rid of them by 2014. But what will take their place? At present, the top two contenders are compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). A couple of years ago, we might have predicted that LEDs, with their longer lifespans, lower operating costs, and “no mercury” construction would push CFLs into the background. But we’ve since learned that LEDs haven’t lived up to their promise.
Why not? First, price: LED makers haven’t managed to bring the cost of the lamps on par with CFLs (which also tend to have the advantage of a long history of cost-lowering subsidies). Also, we’re now learning that LEDs (like CFLs) can’t always be trusted to live up their longevity claims. There goes that trump card.
At the same time the CFL market has matured. The light quality of products has generally improved dramatically. Many retail outlets such as Lowes offer free takeback programs to dispose of old lamps. Some brands now include dimmable ballasts. But they have a lousy reputation among both professionals and end users. That’s because the field of CFL makers is so wide (extending all the way to poorly regulated Chinese factories) that consumers often have no idea whether the bulb they’re buying will live up to its 10,000 hour design-or die in the first six months.
That’s partly the fault of the DOE’s anti-regulatory skittishness. Even when they do test side-by-side brands, they report the information without naming names-so the public is left in the dark about which brands to trust. The same thing is now happening with LEDs.
So what’s the best option? Our advice for buying either CFLs or LEDs is to look for established brands and spend a little more up front. Avoid cut-rate lamps. And when buying several LEDs, do a little homework, as the sidebar (right) suggests. Make sure you’re getting the best of the new technologies.
CFLS AND MERCURY
Although no amount of toxic mercury is desirable, the amount in a typical compact fluorescent lamp is minimal (about 5 mg.), compared with a manual thermostat (up to 3,000 mg.). Also, because many power plants are coal fired, mercury is released even with incandescent lamps-albeit out of sight of homeowners.
Milligrams of Mercury
1.8 mg
Emissions from power plant & Landfill
CFL
5.8 mg
Emissions from power plant
Incandescent
Source: Ohio EPA
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