Natural In Home Lighting

S

Skrying

S K R Y I N G
Veteran
Okay, so I hate the standard incandescent lighting in my house. Purely for the fact that it puts everything in orange color drives me mad, and actually makes me extremely depressed at times.

I'm trying to find options to make it more natural but I dont want to spend or have to replace anything major. The main place this would really need to take place is in my computer room where I spend a large amount of my time when home. Possibly the living room also, but I dont know if the wife would go for that.

Anyway, does anyone know of a cheap solution to this problem? I havent done very much research into this, but do they make fluorescenct light bulbs? I mainly just want to get rid of the orange coloring on everything. I'd also go for lamp(s) that could replace my ceiling fan's lights.

Any advice would be GREATLY appericiated.
 
They make flourescent lightbulbs that can be put in almost any standard incadescent bulb socket. :)

MUCH whiter light, and easier on the electricity plus they last a lot longer...downside is they cost a lot more than regular bulbs.
 
epicstruggle said:
There people should point you to the right direction:
http://www.naturallighting.com/store_front.cfm?&parent_id=38

Im waiting for affordable LED lighting shouldnt be too long before i go all LED.

epic
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll certainly check that out.

digitalwanderer said:
They make flourescent lightbulbs that can be put in almost any standard incadescent bulb socket. :)

MUCH whiter light, and easier on the electricity plus they last a lot longer...downside is they cost a lot more than regular bulbs.
Click to expand...

Any clue on how much more?
 
We use florescent bulbs at our house, and my dad mentioned that the eletricity bill went down about 15% or so. He also let the project to revamp the lighting at Canadian Tire's largest warehouses (some of the largest in Canada), and they are saving something like $1.5 million a year. In fact, they only use 0.5W per square foot for lighting, lol. Energy efficency can make a BIG difference if you really go at it.
 
I use flourescent lighting at home. Its not too bad, but I find the overstate the brightness a bit. For example they will say 18watts is equivalent to 100watt normal, but its more like 80-90 normal. If you want the room nice and bright go for the 125watt equivalent model. Even then I noticed they made a nice dent in the electricity bill. I have them in every room in the house.

On natural lighting, my father installed some in his house and I was quite impressed with it. Really made a big difference to the rooms that didnt get much natural light. He installed it himself so I am not sure on cost.
 
We've actually been really happy with the Reveal bulbs from GE. They're just a bit more expensive the regular bulbs, and don't seem to last as long, but the light is so much better. Made a huge difference in my office, where the walls are all still white. They actually look white again, instead of that yellow-orange color they were before.

It's not perfect, but it does make a very noticable change.
 
Natural daylight at noon is around 4700K so if you want to get close to that then get flourescent bulbs that are 4K - 5K. There are many bulb manufacturers that make them in those color temperature ranges. There are also different shapes of flourescents too. Screw-in type compacts are what you're probably looking for. Ideally you should pick a bulb shape that fits your specific type of lamp. From my experience any compact flourescent that is rated at 3000K and higher will give you a cool white light while 2700K and lower will give you a warm yellow light. Keep in mind that if you have lamps that use a dimmer switch you'll have to buy special compacts that are dimmable which are slightly more expensive because the non-dimmable compact flourescents will flicker if used with a dimmer switch.
 
I mix incandecent with florecent because the florecent takes time to turn on. Sometimes the bulbs have to warm up to output full lighting.
 
rwolf said:
I mix incandecent with florecent because the florecent takes time to turn on. Sometimes the bulbs have to warm up to output full lighting.
Click to expand...

That's true but nowadays even compact flourescents that are less than $1 each will reach 90% output in a few seconds and 99% output in less than a minute.

I recently moved into a new home and replaced all of the incandescents with 13W Sylvania 3000K minitwist compact flourescents. In total there were about 30 bulbs. The dining room lamp used 5 bulbs by itself. :smile: I purchased them at a local home improvement store for around 65 cents each.
 
epicstruggle said:
between 5-15 dollars per bulb.

epic
Click to expand...
Where are you shopping? I buy bulk packs at Sams Club for $16(Canadian) for 7 bulbs.
I love them, the only drawback is that you cannot dim them.
 
nelg said:
Where are you shopping? I buy bulk packs at Sams Club for $16(Canadian) for 7 bulbs.
I love them, the only drawback is that you cannot dim them.
Click to expand...
Ive tried some of the cheaper range bulbs and have not been happy with them. Spending a tad more per bulb is worth it. At least my eyes say so.

epic
 
You really can't go wrong with Sylvania 3000K compact flourescents. The light is very white and they're only 13W yet give lots of light.
 
I like my Ikea bulbs. It's not that I'm patriotic or anything - they're made in china :p - but rather they give great light that is very even thanks to the silicone coating on the outside of the bulb. They have a slight warm-up delay, but it's not enough to be annoying. The 20W version gives A LOT of light, I use one in an ordinary desklamp which I have turned around so it shines on the walls/ceiling to give indirect lighting.
 
Guden Oden said:
I like my Ikea bulbs. It's not that I'm patriotic or anything - they're made in china :p - but rather they give great light that is very even thanks to the silicone coating on the outside of the bulb. They have a slight warm-up delay, but it's not enough to be annoying. The 20W version gives A LOT of light, I use one in an ordinary desklamp which I have turned around so it shines on the walls/ceiling to give indirect lighting.
Click to expand...

I've got quite a few of these Ikea bulbs as well. Of course, they are not much use to me because the two Ikea uplighters I bought to use them in have dimmer switches! I had no idea you couldn't use them with dimmers because of flickering (nothing written on the packaging) so it would have been nice if this had been mentioned when I was passing through the checkout. I can't even use them anywhere else in the house because all my other lights use bayonet fittings! :devilish:

I've never seen a 'dimmable' energy saving bulb for sale anywhere in the UK.
 
Mariner said:
I've got quite a few of these Ikea bulbs as well. Of course, they are not much use to me because the two Ikea uplighters I bought to use them in have dimmer switches! I had no idea you couldn't use them with dimmers because of flickering (nothing written on the packaging) so it would have been nice if this had been mentioned when I was passing through the checkout. I can't even use them anywhere else in the house because all my other lights use bayonet fittings! :devilish:

I've never seen a 'dimmable' energy saving bulb for sale anywhere in the UK.
Click to expand...

Afaik, fluorescents can't be used with dimmers. The ballast might need a certain amount of current.
 
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