Any ideas for fluorescent kitchen lighting retrofit
4 years ago
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- 4 years ago
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lighting in kitchen? fluorescent, halogen, or LED
Comments (9)"we haven't sold one fluorescent fixture in over 4 years ..." Well, sure. Stores sell what they push. If you don't suggest that customers buy a product, most won't. (I'm the exception, as I usually know what I want long before I step into a store. :) "the difference between low voltage halogen and fluorescent in terms of energy use and life is nothing close to what the numbers claim." As the old saw goes, the plural of anecdote is not data. If you have your lights dimmed most of the time, you've probably chosen the wrong light. Curiously, low light output is one of the places where low voltage incandescents "shine" (sorry). For a given wattage, the filament is thicker for better life and durability. Compared to line voltage incandescents, they can run hotter (and whiter) for better efficiency at low light output. But that's when they're run at normal voltage. You lose that advantage when you dim them. As you dim any incandescent lamp, its efficacy in lumens per watt, already overall the lowest of modern lighting systems, becomes even lower. This is a natural consequence of the lower filament temperature. In other words, your energy use is low because you aren't producing much light, not because your lights are efficient. So you could use even less energy if you'd use even lower voltage lights running flat-out - assuming you could find such lights. (Practically speaking, this is where LEDs come in.) BTW, a dimmed halogen lamp also loses one of its other great advantages over a conventional incandescent - maintaining light output over the full life of the lamp. That's because the chemical reaction that keeps tungsten boiled off the filament from deposting on the lamp envelope doesn't run at the lower temperatures of a dimmed lamp. "most fluorescents can't dim..." There are some retrofit dimmable CFs that dim rather nicely. I'll admit that they don't dim as low as many people would like, however. "Mercury is one of the biggest contaminants in land fills." I don't doubt that it could be a concern, but I'd like to see your source for this statement. Here's what counts, folks. When you use a fluorescent lamp, you are releasing LESS mercury into the world. Period. Most people state that and let it go, but here are the hard numbers. The amount of mercury in fluorescent lamps has gotten drastically smaller in the last couple of decades. A typical compact fluorescent lamp has only about 5mg. There are even some full-size linear fluorescent lamps (Philips Alto range, for example) that contain so little mercury - less than 3.6mg per 32 watt F32T8 lamp - that the EPA has actually approved disposing of them in regular trash, though I still recommend taking them to a household hazardous waste (HHW) disposal site (and do this myself). Now, a coal fired powerplant will emit about 3.5mg of mercury powering a 20W CF for its lifetime, taking that as 7500h (a rough average). If you chuck the CF in the trash, you've just released 8.5mg of mercury into the environment. If you take it to the HHW center and they recycle the mercury, you've released only 3.5mg. Now let's say you use a 75W incandescent bulb instead. Since it lasts an average of 750h you'll need 10 of them to the one CF. This uses more landfill space and more raw materials, but we'll neglect that for now. The salient point here is that although those 10 bulbs contain no mercury, the powerplant emits 13mg of mercury powering them. And there's not a thing you can do about it. You can't haul any of that mercury to your local HHW center. So, here's the bottom line. Using an incandescent bulb releases at least 53% more mercury into the environment than using a CF, and that's if you junk the CF in a landfill. If you use a CF and dispose of it properly at a HHW disposal center, the mercury released is only 3.5mg. In that case, using the incandescent bulb releases 270% more mercury, or 3.7 times as much. "Again, this boils down to personal preference." Absolutely. Choice is good. Informed choice is better. That's why I take the time to write this stuff. :)...See MorePlease show me your kitchen with new fluorescent lighting!
Comments (27)I have dimmable fluorescents cans, and I really like them, but they may not be solution for you. Mine are regular cans by Juno that fit a dimmable screw in fluorescent bulb and I purchased the dimmable screw in fluorescent bulbs and made sure the elcetrician installed a compatible dimmer that I purchased from the lighting store, and that the lighting store made sure was OK for use with the dimmable fluorescents. The bulbs were expensive but available through a subsidized program with the local electric company that brought the cost down from 18.00-30.00 per bulb to 8.45 per bulb. It is called the Smart Living Ceneter run by Energy Federation Incorporated (www.efi.org) and subsidized by the state of CT and Connecticult Light and Power (CL-P.com). If you go to the efi website, there are 3 or 4 different manufacturers of r30 dimmable fluorscents that should fit cans. The prices are more reasonable than the local lighting store here, even if your local electric company does not have a subsidezed program. I think from what others have written, you need pin type fluorescents in CA, and cans to accept them. But if you go to the EFI website and click on Consumer Division products and then search for "dimmable" you will come up with a large variety of dimmable fluorscents bulbs and you can read about them and find out the "color tempature" of each and get one to try that will be the least objectionable to you. Sue...See MoreLED Recessed Lighting Help -Kitchen Remodel- downlight brand/retrofit?
Comments (3)Are you in California? That would be the only place you "need" an "LED" housing that is marked as "title 24 compliant". There are several different ways to go otherwise. An LED housing may only be different from a standard housing in that there is no screw shell on the end of the wires to hold a lightbulb. There are also adaptors for that in most LED light kits. A retrofit usually means that the LED screws in like a lightbulb. Another difference is that on some strictly LED systems, the transformer is on/outside the housing instead of in the lightbulb which lowers the heat level, presumably prolonging the life of the LED..... The best way to learn about them is to read up on all the different types here. http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/lighting/brands/halo/recessed/downlighting/_6_inch.html...See MoreAny lighting & backsplash ideas for new kitchen would be appreciated!
Comments (10)I think the large pendants may compete with the hood too much. You also don't want anything that needs constant cleaning near your open cooktop. Are there can lights over the peninsula? If so, I think that's all you need. You could put them on a dimmer for dining. I think your nook is crying out for a larger chandelier. It needs something with height as well as width. I don't see a place for backsplash besides the little coffee niche, but that's so full you won't even see the backsplash. I think the biggest improvement you could make is change the paint. The light tan color is reading yellow and isn't doing much for the white cabinets, floor, or the fireplace. The fireplace is really the only thing making your home feel traditional, so you might whitewash the brick and change the mantel. The Home Decor forum could help you achieve a light airy look to work with your pool, windows, and modern kitchen....See More- 4 years ago
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