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| Lamp Selection |
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INCANDESCENTS
When you hear “light bulb,” you usually think of the familiar incandescent bulb (1), or lamp, as it’s known in the industry. Always available and inexpensive, incandescents have good color rendering and come in a wide variety of sizes and wattages, including the newer rope lights (2).Less energy efficient, incandescents are the shortest-lived lamps on the market.
HALOGENS
Halogen lamps are incandescents that are filled with halogen gas, which makes the lamp burn brighter and last longer. The color of the |
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light is whiter than an incandescent, the color rendering is excellent, and the different types of bulbs last approximately 2,500 to 10,000 hours. Miniature 12v bulbs, like those used in puck lights (3), can be used in undercabinet task lights; 12v and 120v reflector shapes (4) are used in recessed downlights. Like regular incandescents, halogens can be dimmed with standard line-voltage and low-voltage dimmers. Due to the excessive heat the lamps generate, manufacturers recommend that halogens not be used in confined spaces.
FLUORESCENTS
The most efficient lamps for indoor residential use are fluorescents. They generate 4 to 5 times more lumens per watt than incandescent bulbs, produce less heat and have a longer life, as much as 20,000 hours. In the past few years, compact shapes that have become more available can be used in recessed downlights and decorative fixtures. These new compact shapes include twin-tube (5), triple-tube (6) and quad-tube biaxial shapes that can squeeze more light from incandescent-size bulbs. To estimate equivalent incandescent wattage from a fluorescent, multiply fluorescent wattage times four. For example, one 26w quad-fluorescent equals a 100w incandescent. Instead of the cool blue light, the new color-corrected triphosphor lamps make room finishes and skin tones appear more natural; I like 3000°K and 82 CRI fluorescent tubes. The familiar cool white lamps should not be used in modern residential construction because they give cabinets, food and people a slightly blue-green cast. |
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