|
Orion Wholesale Lighting Orion Wholesale Lighting: ORION HOME | Contact Orion | Orion Fixtures | Ceiling Fans | Ballasts & Transformers | Orion Services | Bulbs Orion Bulbs Inventory
Rob Kaufman: "Don't wait to replace those incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFL). As you prepare specs on new and replacement projects, fluorescents are available in a range of shapes and styles. The savings is significant. In bulb life alone, a 60-watt incandescent lasts about 1,000 hours. A 15-watt CFL, which is of equal brightness, will last approximately 10,000 hours. BULB SMARTS EXPLAINED (with thanks to New York magazine: "Nothing but Green Lights," by Jenni Avins, February 13.) "New energy-efficiency laws have led to scores of new lightbulbs . . . Industry-wide, bulbs are now being labeled in lumens. The brightness we expect from a 100-watt bulb, 1,600 lumens, can now be achieved with as few as 23 watts." "Classic Incandescents: short life, many won't meet new lumens-per-watt standards. Cost: 60-watts for less than a dollar. Between replacing and energy cost, most expensive. "Halogen Incandescents: last two to three times as long as classics, burn brighter, nowhere as green as CFLs. Cost: slightly more than classic. "CFL: compact fluorescents last ten times as long as classics and use 1/4 the energy. They contain mercury so recycle them at Home Depot. They're warmer than they used to be and don't flicker. Cost: several dollars, very efficient, long life. "LED: Light-emitting diodes are found in televisions, watches and iPhones too. They last 25 times longer than classic bulbs. They're highly efficient and will cut bills by 80%. They're bright and best for hard-to-reach fixtures." Energy efficient lighting by the numbers "Still, with legislation in many countries rendering incandescents unmarketable within the next few years, the compact fluorescent is currently poised as the only mass-market alternative - though other technologies, including LEDs, are on the horizon." --Tom Zeller Jr. New York Times "Electric lighting currently accounts for 19% of the world's electricity use, pumping as much greenhouse-gas pollution into the atmosphere every year as half the world's cars." --Jeremy Caplan Time Magazine 413. 548. 7100 Rob Kaufman robert@orion-light.com |