The lamp is a desk type lamp that’s only about 2 feet from the book/Kindle I’m reading so it doesn’t need much. I purposely don’t want it too bright because I’m trying to get my eyes tired enough to sleep. </p>
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If you ever decide to redo it and want to consider other lighting, I’m very happy with the LED can lights I put in other than the cost of the lights themselves but I put them in myself (and did all the electrical and other work on the remodel) so compared to having a contractor do put in any kind of can lights I saved money overall. They’re no extra effort to install versus any other kind of can light so the installation costs s/b the same, it’s just the cost of each fixture that’s more. OTOH some people spend hundreds and hundreds just for a faucet or buy those ridiculously expensive fridges or stoves so relative to the cost of a new kitchen or a remodel it really isn’t that big of a deal I guess.</p>
<p>The LEDs that I have have a projected life of 40 years so that’s essentially lifetime for us older folks.</p>
<p>On gas consumption by cars - the implementation is at point of sale. A consumer could put in a modification to change the gas consumption for better performance. Or there could be a mandate on taxis to use Hybrids. When the batteries die, just keep running on gasoline instead.</p>
<p>On energy consumption of air conditioners - it causes a problem if it makes it hard to get spare parts for your HVAC that is ten years old because standards are now different.</p>
<p>I read an article on businesses going to LED lighting - not for the electricity savings but so that they don’t have the expense of replacing lights. Replacing light bulbs in a business setting isn’t always as easy as it is in the home.</p>
<p>I’ve read through all the responses but haven’t yet seen anyone address a potential nasty of CFLs that may affect anyone who wears gold jewelry and is in the process of cleaning up a broken bulb. Mercury will form an amalgam with the gold if either liquid mercury touches it or enough mercury vapor comes in contact with it. This will cause the gold to look tarnished with a dirty silvery-gray cast. The way to rid the jewelry of mercury and get the gold color back is to either heat the piece to a temperature where the mercury vaporizes off (you have to do it outside or inside with proper hood venting), or dip it in concentrated nitric acid. My husband had to de-mercurize his wedding ring on two occasions because of accidental contact with mercury vapor. The first time we had no clue as to what was going on but found out via a web search. Then we had to find a jeweler who not only knew of this problem but was also willing to do the mercury removal. It was the mercury vapor venting that was the factor holding many of them back from doing it. Then the piece had to be refinished, polished, whatever and that cost money too. The second time we recognized the signs of contamination, but still had a hard time finding someone willing to heat the ring to drive out the mercury.</p>
<p>H is a proponent of CFL’s because of the energy savings. We have CFL floods in the kitchen and not a day goes by where I don’t curse them for the dim 5 minutes they take to warm up. I also tend to keep them on even if I leave the room but know I’m coming back because H tells me that frequent turning on and off of CFLs reduces their lifespan. I am stockpiling incandescents for the rest of the house, especially the bedrooms, until they work the bugs out of LEDs. They have directional and color problems (for us) but I’m even willing to pay through the nose for a long-lasting bulb so long as I don’t have to worry about mercury contamination in the house.</p>
<p>What’s all this “being forced to use a toxic product”? No one’s forcing you to use CFLs. The government has mandated an energy efficiency standard. If someone figures out how to meet that standard with an incandescent, then I’m sure they’ll produce it. With all the recent advances in materials science at nano scales, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came up with a filament that was both thin (and energy efficient) and also longer-lasting. It may be pricy at first, but it may well be available. </p>
<p>In the meantime, if you don’t want to use CFLs, LEDs are available. And I’m not certain of this, but it may be that halogen bulbs meet the standard for at least some uses. And for now, incandescents are available, so if you really prefer to keep using energy-inefficient incandescents, stock up. It’s not as if the government is going to send around the light bulb police and arrest you if they find an incandescent bulb in your lamp. It’s commerce that they’re regulating, not what you do in your own home.</p>
Well, except for the government building inspector who not only checked what kind of bulb was there (kitchen, laundry) but what type of fixture was there because the fixture had to be one that couldn’t accept a normal incandescent bulb (i.e. not accept a screw-in type bulb).</p>
<p>OK, let me modify my earlier statement. There may be local building codes in some places now that mandate particular lighting, but in that case your beef is with your local city council or county board. I don’t think any state, even California, has gone there, and it’s certainly not a federal requirement.</p>
The state of California sets the standards but it’s up to county/city building departments to enforce it since the state doesn’t have enforcement. </p>
<p>In California the lighting I referred to is called ‘Title 24’ of the building standards. Below is an excerpt from the 2008 version -