Your access to premium content.
USER NAME: 
PASSWORD: 
   • Register   • Info   • Help

Lighting News from LAMPS PLUS Professionals - Jeff Emmerson (Sponsored Blog)

Jeff Emmerson
This blog gives me a chance to address the issues building and remodeling professionals face when making decisions about lighting. Eighteen years of experience with the professional side of LAMPS PLUS has given me insight into what information is truly critical. Energy efficiency, consumer preferences, new trends, recent technical developments, important product releases – Knowing something about each of these topics can help you find the best solution when faced with multiple lighting options.

About Jeff Emmerson

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Can Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Help Beat the Heat?

Aug 1 2007 9:53AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (8) |
Blog This! using: Blogger.com | LiveJournal |

Product ImageAs much of the country swelters under some of the highest temperatures ever recorded, the demand for energy skyrockets. This increase in demand is caused by air conditioners being left on all day in an effort to beat the heat. Several states have reported power outages due to inadequate energy supplies. Can compact fluorescent bulbs help alleviate these conditions?

It is well known that compact fluorescent bulbs use substantially less energy than standard light bulbs. The Green movement sweeping the country is encouraging the public to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs in an attempt to conserve energy and ultimately clean up our environment by reducing the need for fossil fuels.

There is another important benefit of switching to compact fluorescent bulbs. Standard incandescent bulbs operate by heating a metal filament to produce visible light, thereby also producing heat in the process. The higher the wattage of the bulb, the more heat it will produce. Burning 100 watt bulbs in a typical home adds to the ambient temperature of the space. The setting on the thermostat may be adjusted lower to compensate.

Compact fluorescent bulbs produce only a fraction of the heat of a standard bulb since they operate on a completely different principle. Visible light from a fluorescent bulb is produced by the interaction of mercury gases with phosphors rather than through an exchange of heat.

So can switching to compact fluorescent bulbs help during these summer heat waves? Absolutely! Not only will they pull less power from the energy grids, but they also limit the amount of artificially produced heat in a space, which creates less demand on our air conditioning units.



Reader Comments


at 8/15/2007 1:54:09 PM, T said:
These bulb are great except for the fact that they cannot be used in circuits with dimmers

at 8/15/2007 2:23:08 PM, R Porter said:
Fluourescent technologies have come a long way in recent years. Incorporating self-ballasted lights within the lighting scheme of a home will have a marginal (almost unoticeable) impact on the direct energy usage of a homes lighting system. Savings to the homeowner are made-up in the longevity of the light bulb itself - but month to month you would not notice the change. Their cost remains an issue for wholesale adoption in most homes. Because the t-stat controls how often the HVAC cycles to cool (and/or dehumidify), homeowners are not going the change its setting (whether they have variable speed units or older model AHUs). Its sets the comfort level target, not the rate of energy used. The biggest impacts to energy use by the HVAC system come from other elements of home's construction: the insulation properties of its envelope, solar values of windows, orientation, and latitude. The biggest impact - energywise - comes from the adoption of self-ballasted fluourescents in commercial and public buildings. The mandated lighting loads in retail stores, offices and schools is massive. Increasingly efficient tube fluourescents reduce direct energy costs, and reduce the heat load their ballasts contribute to a structure. Spot and personal lighting fixtures in these buildings run for hours every day, and the adoption of fluourescents - in place of incandescents - here will have a noticeable impact on the energy bills of commercial buildings; and the aggregate energy demand of the sector as a whole. Just my thoughts ... hope they spark more discussion

at 8/20/2007 1:33:56 PM, Jeff Emmerson said:
R Porter is correct. Obviously the larger the scale of the conversion, the greater impact it will have on the ambient temperature of the space. Office, retail and other commercial spaces will see the largest energy cost savings from the lamps and on cooling costs. I still contend however, that one would be able to adjust the setting on a thermostat if a house full of 75watt PAR30 recessed lamps was changed to 18 watt compact fluorescent lamps. The savings would be noticeable from the combined energy savings of the lamps themselves along with reduced replacement costs and energy saved from lowered cooling requirements. It may not be as dramatic a savings as the large scale commercial projects, but every little helps.

at 9/13/2007 4:56:37 AM, J said:
have a commercial project - building engineer has spec'd 1800 lumen dimmable compact fluorescents - Price is INSANE they think long term energy use makes them worthwhilr and "green" - have suggested LED lights - standard base bulbs standard canlight fixture - about $7500 less BUT not enough lumens ! any help ? jbhomeplan@yahoo.com

at 9/29/2007 5:54:57 AM, www.ceiling-fan-wizard.com said:
Take a look at my new website www.ceiling-fan-wizard.com

at 10/16/2007 1:17:50 PM, Lisa Hegel said:
What about halogen bulbs? I've read they're also energy efficient, though expensive initially, and they can be used with dimmer switches. Any insights on these?

at 10/30/2007 2:13:33 PM, Jeff Emmerson said:
Halogen bulbs do have a higher efficacy (lumens per watt) than standard incandescent light bulbs and do typically last longer, but they are not thought of as energy efficient. Halogen bulbs can be used in some situation where energy efficient products are required to be used but only if they are controlled by a dimmer or photosensitive control. The light quality of halogen lamps is better than regular household lamps, especially the low voltage versions of the lamp which produce a brighter whiter light. They are typically used in applications where more focused task or accent lighting is needed, such as for lighting a kitchen counter top or a piece of artwork.

at 11/2/2007 9:41:33 AM, Lisa Hegel said:
Thanks for your answer, Jeff. You helped confirm I did the right thing, after all. I do prefer the quality of halogen light (over CFLs), and chose the fixture and bulbs for lighting my kitchen. It really improved the room.

Post a comment


Display Name

Before submitting this form, please type the characters displayed above:

 

Advertisement