Lighting
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs | Halogen lamps and “torches” | LED's | Light pollution | Other
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Buy compact fluorescent bulbs for all light fittings. These are available from any hardware store. Although they cost more than normal light bulbs, they last far longer, and use far less electricity – about a 6th per bulb. You should even consider changing light fittings that don't take these bulbs – see more below.
Compact Fluorescents are available overseas in all sorts of shapes and colours – most stores in SA unfortunately still only stock bright white “spaghetti” ones. It will take about a week to get used to the whiter light and different aesthetics.
CFL’s (and normal fluorescent tubes) contain mercury and must not be placed in landfill (http://www.homepower.com/article/?file=HP120_pg12_ATE_1).
They must be disposed of at proper locations. Although the amount of mercury in them is far lower than some other household devices, the accumulation of them results in higher overall levels. Mercury is extremely poisonous and should never get into the ground or groundwater. Unfortunately we do not know of any centers in South Africa.
Halogen bulbs use less electricity than traditional bulbs for the amount of light emitted – however they still use more than compact fluorescents. So all those nice recessed halogen lights in bathrooms, kitchens etc. need replacing with slightly larger recessed compact fluorescent lights.
Also, if your halogens are not wired up correctly, they could still draw current while they are “off”. This is because they need a transformer – and if the off switch for the light is not actually turning the transformer off, but just the circuit to the lights, the transformer will be drawing current.
Halogen based standing lamps, which have the long thin bulbs, are the absolute worst users of electricity in household lighting. They are extremely wasteful, converting most energy to heat vs. light. These types of lamps should be replaced with ones that can use compact fluorescents.
LED bulbs are even better than compact fluorescent's – however they are few brought into South Africa. They are shaped to fit both halogen and normal bulb sockets. This is a new industry, so the bulbs cost a lot (but the last literally for ever), and currently only give directional and low lighting. They are however great for places that only need low light – you could replace a 40W normal bulb with a 1W LED. Do an Internet search for LED bulb to keep up to date with the technology.
- A good overseas supplier is http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx
- If you're into desk lamps, check out this LED design: "leaf personal light by herman"
- http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx for LED bulbs (very expensive, last forever and even lower power consumption than CFL’s)
Apart from using less electricity, you should consider making sure
that all exterior light fittings are designed such that light from the
fitting comes out at 30 deg (note that in this case the bulb has to
be high enough due to the width of the lamp otherwise direct light from
the bulb will escape at less than 30 deg):
This is so that no direct light shines up into the sky, or onto neighbours. If you have lights in your house that are visible from the outside, also consider having their fittings also direct light downwards. Travel through Europe to see the difference this makes – or fly over a large city like Frankfurt – there is hardly any light pollution visible, compared to South African cities.
- http://www.solatube.co.za for natural light in hard to reach locations, with optional electric night light