Watt's New in Lighting - Fluorescent

The push to go “green” has many people turning to fluorescent lighting. Unlike other sources of light, fluorescent light is a function of its length. In essence, the longer the tube, the more light output (lumens). But long tubes didn’t fit into very many fixtures so the manufacturers were clever and twisted the tube into a spiral so that you get a lot of light in a small compact form. Thus the “compact fluorescent” (CFL) was born!

While the manufacturers were at it they added a screw-base and a ballast (necessary to “charge” the tube) so that these new creations could fit into a standard socket in exisiting fixtures. Now you have a source that puts out more light relative to the amount of energy it is consuming and is cooler to the touch. That's great...so what’s the problem? The problem is two-fold. First, fluorescents need mercury to produce light. Mercury is a hazardous waste and should not be disposed of by simply throwing it into the garbage and yet, since no receptacles are readily available, that’s what many people do. Now our landfills contain this hazardous waste, so where did the “green” go? Second, most compact fluorescents are not dimmable, which means you can’t tune in the level of light that you want. Although, more manufacturers are producing dimmable fluorescents, that still does not address the hazardous waste issue in our communities. Contact your local waste disposal company for recommendations.

Is a light emitting diode in your future??

Stay tuned….

VML Design & Lighting

863.248.2300

www.vmldesignandlighting.com

Tags: designer, fluorescent, fluorescents, lighting

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Comment by Vicky M. Lodge on September 8, 2010 at 10:21am: Karen, thank you for your question. You may, in fact, need new fixtures, but before tossing the old ones out...check to see if the existing ones have a diffuser on them or will accept a diffuser. The diffuser is the covering on the underside of the fixture that helps obscure the fluorescent tubes. Sometimes those coverings are parabolics which are open grilles that block the glare as you look at the fixture but do nothing to the glare they produce on other surfaces (like your computer screen). That's when a solid plexi-glass sheet will help if your existing fixture allows for one. Or add another light source nearby. Like a simple portable desk lamp. That will help balance the light. Glare is produced when there is a lot of light from one location (in your case, above) and no where else. Try that before abandoning your current lighting.

Comment by Karen Konrath on September 7, 2010 at 6:09pm: This is some good information Vicky, thanks. This brings up a question. The fluorescents lights that are a part of my office building seem to be very harsh and are rough on my eyes, especially when I work on my computer. They not only produce a glare on my computer screen but also my phone screen. Is there a better approach to this form of lighting or do we just need different lighting fixtures?