Fluorescent Lighting for Every Room

Finding ways to decrease your energy bill can be a daunting task if not almost impossible. Most people fail to consider one of the most cost effective home improvement methods – Fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lamps are two to four times as efficient as incandescent lamps. Fluorescent fixtures are popular and today come in many different shapes, sizes, and styles to add beauty and enjoyment to your kitchen renovation.

If part of the reason for your kitchen renovation or home improvement plan is to save on your energy bill then consider that fluorescent lights run cooler for the same effective light output. The bulbs themselves also last a lot longer – 10,000 to 20,000 hours vs. 1000 hours for a typical incandescent. Because they spread light throughout a room more completely than incandescent lights do fewer lights need to be turned on. This is why they are often used in home kitchens and basements, as well as most offices and factories.

Early fluorescents lights were notorious with humming, flicker, and unpleasant color rendering. Today the fixtures and fixture ballasts (integral voltage regulators) have largely improved and remedied these two problems. New tube technology has vastly expanded color options and while fixture designs for traditional tubes are still limited, new compact fluorescent bulbs are impacting fixture styling.

Fluorescent lights diffuse light evenly in all directions and are great for broad, ambient light or for close-at-hand tasks. Cool operating temperatures and long life make them excellent addition to your kitchen renovation project. Fluorescents don’t provide much accent punch and they’re trickier to dim than both halogen and incandescent, requiring dimmable fixture ballast and a matching fluorescent dimmer.

Fluorescent tubes come in four basic diameters: T-2, T-5, T-8, and T-12. Diameters are usually specified in 1⁄8-inch increments; thus the popular T-12 size is about 11⁄2 inches across. Tubes commonly come in lengths from about 12 inches to 6 feet. You’ll need to buy the right pin configuration for your fixture – for example, single-pin, recessed pin, or twin-pin. You will also need to match the tube to your fixture’s ballast – either preheat or rapid-start.

Besides energy-conscious improvements to fluorescent tubes (especially in the T-8 size), the big news is color temperature. With improved color temperature fluorescent lighting makes their use kitchen renovation a must. Fluorescents now come in a dizzying spectrum of colors from very warm to distinctly cool allowing you to match other lights and to choose the effect that suits your taste and your decor.

If your home improvement doesn’t include replacing the light fixtures themselves then Circline fluorescent tubes might be your best bet. Circline tubes fit rounded ceiling fixtures and pendants. This will provide an energy-efficient, ambient alternative to incandescent A-bulbs. Older circline tubes had pin connections however newer versions screw right into standard light sockets. The circline tube is suitable for any fixture big enough to accept it saving you money on your home improvement.

Compact fluorescents lights (CFLs) directly replace incandescent A-bulbs. They have built-in ballasts and screw bases, so you simply screw a compact fluorescent light medium-size base into a standard fixture socket. Some compact fluorescent lights resemble ordinary A-bulbs or globes. While others have exposed tubes bent into a U shape or a coil.

Compact fluorescent lights may be too big for some ceiling fixtures. For these, you can use the flatter circline tube. There are tables available that will show the energy requirements (watts) of incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent lights that produce comparable brightness (usually expressed in lumens). Compact fluorescent lights produce 40 to 60 lumens per watt compared with 8 to 18 lumens for incandescent bulbs.