The new Federal energy requirements for "light bulbs" (lamps) appears to be misunderstood by the general public. The intent of the new law is simply to stop the manufacture of the inexpensive but terribly inefficient old style "light bulbs" (tungsten-filament A-lamps) that have remained essentially unchanged for over 125 years. A law was thought to be necessary because the majority of consumers were not buying the newer more expensive tungsten-halogen incandescent lamps that are 20 to 30% more efficient even though the cost break-even period is less than 6 months and the halogen lamps last 2 to 3 times longer. The new law just dumps the cheap tungsten incandescent light bulbs off the market and forces consumers to buy the more energy efficient and cost effective tungsten-halogen incandescent lamps. The consumer's option to buy CFL or LED lamps instead of incandescent lamps is not affected by this law. Manufacturers have already started reducing their output of the old standard bulbs since these lamps were not very profitable. Hopefully the increase in supply of the halogen lamps will bring down the price. So, for the next 10 years all that will happen is that general-use, medium screw base "light bulbs" available in stores will become 20 to 30% more efficient, last three times as long and cost more, but be more cost effective. In 10 years the law will evaluate the electrical energy savings and determine if stricter standards are needed. By that time all of the lamp types should have sufficient energy and cost efficiency to avoid much of a change unless the typical consumer is slow to buy those products.

To repeat some of what I've said earlier in multiple posts, I've taken a multi-faceted approach: sunlight therapy light for 30 minutes each morning during the shorter winter months making sure to eat healthily, esp. lots of legumes exercise (which for me also includes social partner dancing...not only provides exercise but physical interaction and music!) bamboo sheets have greatly helped with night sweats. I sleep much better. join a menopause support group or else start your own such Meetup group (I did, in NYC!) I take Rainbow Light Menopause One make it a point to be social....to get out of the house and be around other people. Go for walks...be around nature. If you are a night owl (like me), try your best to change your schedule little by little. Waking up earlier and going to bed earlier means you will have more waking hours in the natural light, and fewer waking hours in the dark, which in turn helps with serotonin levels and mood. Talk to a shrink if you are depressed and/or try to engage in cognitive therapy on your own. Be aware of how you are able to somewhat impact your own mood. For e.g., I noticed a pattern, whereby I was constantly assessing my mood multiple times per day. 'Am I feeling depressed right now?....Yup, I am. I am indeed feeling down...just like I was earlier today...just like I was yesterday. Ugh.' I realized that in doing that, I was then creating a sub-conscious 'reality' for myself, that if I am feeling down today, and I felt 'down' yesterday, and the day before that, that it stands to reason that tomorrow, and the next day, will also be the same. And how on earth can I expect to be in a good mood, if I believe this to be my reality, for the foreseeable future? Talk about creating a sense of doom for oneself. ;-) So.... I realized that this thought pattern I was exhibiting was not serving me one iota. Of course, we all know the expression of 'living in the moment'. I decided to purposefully try this at every moment of every day. 'Oh, doesn't this cup of coffee taste so good?.... this is so great that I just finished this work spreadsheet on my computer...I can now cross this off my to-do list.... this is great... Oh, this is a great song I'm listening to ...this salad I'm eating tastes so fresh!.... don't my two cats look so cute sleeping together..." And so on. By doing this, at the end of each day I found that I was able to look back and think 'you know...today wasn't that bad actually...'. And if I practiced living in the moment the next day as well, I could say 'this is great...today was pretty good...yesterday was pretty good...'. So that in turn helped to create my own new reality, which then helped me believe that the days ahead would also be pretty good! ;-) (If I assumed the days ahead would not be so good, they usually were not so good. But if I took on a more positive outlook, that my days ahead would be good, or 'pretty good', indeed, they usually were. While we can't control our emotions or mood entirely, much of it IS about perspective, and recognizing the ways we self-sabotage. And on that note....do not believe for one minute that 'older women are regarded with little worth' (as someone else here said). I am so utterly tired of women (and most often, it's American women) making this complaint. If you believe it, so it will be. No one wants to be around an older woman who is down in the dumps about her age. You could take two older women who look the exact same age more or less, and who have a similar appearance. One woman is confident, takes pride in her appearance, dresses attractively, does not feel her age is in and of itself a detriment; she is engaging, curious, outgoing. The other woman goes around believing that now that she's X-years of age, she's washed-up, and that society and men will 'ignore her'. She doesn't bother trying to dress nice, because she figures 'why bother'. Which woman do you think society is going to respond to more favorably. Which woman will more men find attractive? ;-)

We live in a very humid area. I struggled for years keeping up with the mildew. Then I got a squeegee( like you use for windows) and insisted that everyone using the showers would wipe them down after each shower. Magic , no more mildew. Recently when I was ill to squeegee after showering, I had to smile when I found my dear husband squeegeeing the shower for me. Good luck with your new bath! I give thumbs up also to Panasonic's heater, fan, light combo. Well worth the extra money. Check Amazon - great prices on the fan.

An inline remote fan can have one ceiling grate or multiple grates feeding a single remote fan. A remote fan will usually be quieter than a fan mounted right behind the grate. Because of installation issues, they generally move air better than an equivalent-CFM ceiling mounted fan. The efficiency of through-the-roof versus a gable-wall exit? It's really a matter of calculating the effective duct length. The longer the duct, the more bends, the sharper the bends? The harder the fan has to work to move air. You can end up with a 200CFM fan that may only move 50CFM, or an 80CFM fan that only moves 10CFM. On the flip side, remote fans usually have larger diameter ducts than ceiling mounts. A larger diameter duct helps reduce air-turbulence noise, etc. If you have to go through the roof, no worries. A single fan versus two independently controlled fans? You can do it. Will two separate switches change how the fans are used? Implementing ventilation should be thoughtless. I prefer wiring the fan in to the shower light switch, and to have the fan on a timer. You turn the shower light ON, the shower light and the fan turn on together. You finish showering and turn the shower light OFF, the shower light turns off but the fan continues to run for a specified time, usually in the 20-30 minute range. With a timer switch, If it's daylight and you don't want to shower with the shower light on? Fine, then flip the shower light ON and then OFF. The light will be OFF, but the shower fan will now run for its allocated time. As far as choices, it's not as if there is a right or wrong choice to be made. Consider the size of the bathroom. If long showers will be taken. If long soaking baths will be taken. It's better to have moisture evacuation located near the source of the moisture. With either installation, it's all in the installation details. Especially with fan ducting.