Low Impact

Most people have figured out that Compact Fluorescent Lightglobes (CFLs) are a good option. I mean, longer life, lower power consumption…. whats not to like?!

A few things, it turns out (not least the name - “Compact Fluorescent Lightglobe” doesn’t really roll off the tongue, does it?). CFLs are different from your standard incandescent. Not worse, just different! Some things to bear in mind are:

Lower light output at the start. This is the big one. Almost everyone I know has told me “I put in a CFL and its dimmer than the equivalent incandescent”. Well….kinda. Most CFLs at your local supermarket take a while to “warm up”. The extent to which this warming up affects the brightness of the light differs from brand to brand, but in my experience, the light will be noticeably brighter a couple of minutes after turning it on. So don’t rush out and buy a bigger wattage light after a quick 5 second test!

Check the size of the light fitting. Many common CFLs are bigger in size than your equivalent incandescent. There’s nothing worse than buying up big to switch the whole house over to the energy-saving-goodness of CFLs, only to find that they don’t fit in the fitting. The newer “spiral” style typically uses less space, if thats an issue.

Check the orientation of the light fitting. The long, thin style of CFL gives out more light from the “side” (the long edge). So, if you put it in a vertical light fitting, there won’t be as much light shining straight down. Again, the curly style of CFL may work out better. Of course, they’re perfect for horizontal fittings!

Beware the dimmer switch! Until recently, CFLs didn’t play nicely with light fittings that used dimmer switches. That’s changed now, and you can use CFLs in those fittings but you do have to buy CFLs that are designed for that purpose.

They’re little things, but hopefully they’ll make the process of switching to CFLs that much easier.

Categories: efficiency, environment, green

Tags: cfl