Photo credit: Joshua Bright for the NY Times
Ok. It’s just a light fixture, right? The modern design of the six globe metal light fixture is attractive and I know Mr. Green did a lot of research before settling on this model to light his apartment. And I like the lamp; I really do. I just loathe the glow of the energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs he’s installed in the fixture.
When we’re not sitting in the dark to save energy and enjoy the sharpest picture from Mr. Green’s HD TV, we’re swathed in the offensive “glow” of these energy efficient bulbs. The twisty white bulbs cast a blue-green light that reminds me of waiting anxiously for my name to be called in the dentist’s office. Not to mention how I look sickly and yellow under the lamp’s light. I know that incandescent bulbs are energy-suckers, but there’s something so comforting about their soft warm glow.
Last week, in a desperate attempt to appeal to my design sensibility, Mr. Green e-mailed me an article from the NY Times that claims energy-guzzling bulbs modelled after Thomas Edison’s first light bulb just aren’t hip anymore. I think Mr. Green’s afraid that one night while he’s sleeping peacefully, I’ll sneak low efficiency bulbs into his fixture! According to the story, restaurant designers in NY believe the retro cool of the filament light bulb has played out.
Maybe they’re right? It seems to me that every restaurant to make Toronto Life’s “Best New Restaurant List” is lit using vintage looking, exposed light bulbs. Consider the last restaurant you went to, did you notice antique-looking light bulbs hanging from the ceiling? Perhaps the industrial look really is beginning to feel a little common?
According to restaurant designers, conventional incandescent bulbs are so popular because they emulate candlelight and make both you and your food look good. I’m all in favour of that! Except, something smarty Natural Resources Defense Council scientist Noah Horowitz pointed out gave me pause:
“You can’t on the one hand brag how green you are by serving organic beer and locally grown produce while you are lighting your business with the least efficient light bulbs available in the world.”
Oh … I’m afraid dear Noah might have a point.
Consider this: energy efficient lighting uses 75 per cent less electricity than conventional incandescent lights, which reduces the overall demand for electricity. This means you save on your energy bill and you reduce the demand for electricity and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil-fuel power plants that supply the power.
And with Canada introducing an efficiency standard in 2012 that will end the sale of inefficient bulbs, I think I’d better get over my love of incandescent lights and leave behind the raw industrial look for home and restaurant decor. Who’s with me?!
As the NY Times article points out … there’s nothing more retro than the soft glow of candles. Imagine the energy savings!
CFL savings are hugely exaggerated (see my site for references and details). They also contain toxic mercury vapour and give a substandard light which is a real mood-killer in restaurants. There are a million other ways to save energy than to make restaurants feel like you’re at the dentist.
Let’s face it they’re a real mood killer just about everywhere.
Poppa Green has suggested some thing to do with a CFL and believe me it has nothing to do with lighting up a room!