Going Green
The amount of energy used by lighting in Australian households is increasing, mainly due to larger house sizes and the proliferation of halogen downlights. It is possible to decrease the amount of energy used by your lights by up to 80% without affecting your light levels or quality. In fact many energy efficient lights provide better light coverage and quality than traditional lights.Energy efficient lighting does not mean lower quality or less options. In fact, with modern technology such as LEDs, CFLs, micro fluoros such as the Megaman range and cold cathode fluorescent lamps, it is possible to light your home, garage, driveway, garden, shack, factory or shop in ways that we could only dream about in the past. Their low power consumption, lower operating temperatures, long operating life and versatile size and packaging means you can fit energy efficient lamps just about anywhere you need light, for practical purposes or for decoration. Low energy consumption also means it is much more viable to power lighting from renewable sources such as solar electricity, especially in areas that have no power available, such as sheds, gardens and remote areas.
Important Definitions
Watts - the wattage of a lamp indicates the rate at which it consumes electricity. A 12V lamp does not necessarily use less power than a 240V lamp, you have to compare the watts. E.g. a standard 12 Volt halogen lamp is 50 Watts, four of these in a room equals 200 Watts, not including losses in the transformers.
Lumens - are a measure of the luminous flux, basically the amount of light output by a lamp. You can directly compare the brightness of different types of lamps by comparing their output in lumens and you can get a good idea of the efficiency of a lamp by looking at the lumens/watt.
Colour Temperature - is an indicator of the colour of the white light emitted by a lamp. Incandescent lamps are usually very warm, with a slight yellow/orange tint to the light. Older style fluorescent lamps tended to be very cool with a bluish tinge that is very practical to work by not very flattering. Modern cool white fluoros are a nicer shade and are excellent for detailed work and high visibility. Modern fluoro lamps come in a range of colour temperatures. Warm white is best for living areas, cool white is best for work areas such as kitchens. Colour temperature is measured in Degrees Kelvin. Warm white is typically 3500k or less, cool white is 4000k-6500k and daylight is 6500k+
Types of lamps and their alternatives
Incandescent Lamps - Incandescent lamps or bulbs are the most commonly used type of lighting. They include the standard everyday light bulbs and halogen downlights. They are typically inexpensive to buy but their lifetime running costs are high.An incandescent lamp works by running electricity through a piece of wire known as the filament until it heats up enough to emit light, literally glowing white hot. This means that a lot of the energy used is lost as heat rather than light, which is both inefficient and dangerous, with halogen downlights responsible for many house fires.
Standard light bulbs typically only last about a thousand hours and must be regularly replaced, which can be very costly, dangerous or just outright annoying in difficult situations such as high ceilings.
Incandescent lamps are most suitable for areas where lighting is used infrequently and for short periods, such as laundries and toilets and also harsh environments such as inside fridges and ovens. Even though they are inefficient users of energy, incandescent lamps can still be the most suitable choice for certain situations.
Compact Flourescent Lamps - The best alternative to the standard lightbulb in most situations is the compact fluorescent lamp, or CFL. First invented during the oil crisis of the 1970s, they have become commonly available in the last few years and provide very good quality light with up to 80% less energy use than an equivalent incandescent light bulb.
Most of our Compact Fluoro Lamps use spiral tubes, which provide a better distribution of light and are more compact and better looking than the more common linear tube lamps.
CFLs work by creating an arc that causes a phosphor on the inside of the tube to glow. There is some circuitry inside the base that controls the arc and stops the lamp flickering at switch on like in older fluoro lamps.
The main issue with compact fluorescents is the large amount of energy and materials that goes into manufacturing a lamp compared to an incandescent. This is known as embodied energy. The much longer typical lifetime of a CFL means that the greater embodied energy is more than made up for by the energy saved during use. The problem appears when the lamp doesnt last as long as it should.
The answer to this is to buy a good quality CFL and make sure it is used appropriately. CFLs dont like electronic switches such as sensor lights and most are not compatible with dimmers. We have high quality Dimmable CFLs available.
Halogen Lamps - Halogen downlights have become very popular over recent years. They are usually low voltage systems, which many people have interpreted as low power. This is not true.
Because of the directional nature of the halogen downlights, more fittings are needed to light up a room compared to traditional light globe batten fittings. Typical downlights use a 50watt lamp and a transformer that can use as much as 10-15 watts more, for a total of up to 65 watts per fitting. With 6 fittings per room, this can add up to 390 watts. The same amount of light can be provided by two 20 watt CFL lamps in batten fittings. Count the number of halogen downlights in your house and add up the watts!
Halogens are also a fire hazard. The filaments in halogen lamps rise to about 2500oC and the bulb wall is about 500oC. We have measured the external temperature of our display halogen lamps at over 200oC in open air. The temperature at which paper will ignite without a spark or flame is around 230oC. This means that if insulation is pushed against the lamp fitting or rodents drag nesting materials around in your roof a fire can very easily occur. We highly recommend products such as the Isolite downlight cover and the TENMAT Fire-rated downlight covers to protect your downlights. These products will also make your home more efficient by stopping the thermal chimney effect, caused by the hot air being drawn through the lamp fitting and into the roof space.
If you are renovating or designing a new home we highly recommend you do not install downlights, there are better ways of lightng a room. However, many people already have many downlight fittings in their home, or simply prefer the appearance.
High efficiency and low wattage halogen lamps - The simplest alternative is to replace your existing halogen lamps with the more efficient IRC lamps. They are identical to standard halogens, except that the bulb has an Infra Red Coating which reflects some of the heat back into the filament. As a result a 35 watt lamp can produce as much light as a 50 watt lamp. Lamp life is also extended to 4,000 hours. These lamps will save up to 30% of energy compared to a standard halogen.
It is also worth considering replacing some of your lamps with a lower wattage where light levels are too high. E.g. Replace a 50w standard halogen with a 20w IRC halogen.
This option is ideal for renters and others who cant afford or may not want to change their light fittings. However, the fire hazard still remains and much greater energy savings can be made with other options.
CFL downlight fittings - The best alternative we have found for replacing standard 50W halogen downlights is a 15W Compact Fluoro lamp in a fitting specially designed for CFLs. Dont try putting CFLs into fittings designed for incandescent lamps, the reflector needs to be different to efficiently get the light out. We have a range of downlight fittings designed specifically for CFLs available in different sizes, shapes and finishes.
Micro flouros - Micro Fluoro Lamps use the same technology as Compact Fluoro Lamps but in a smaller package, designed to fit into a standard downlight lampholder. Most use the 240V GU10 two pin fitting the same as 240V halogen lamps. This means that you can directly replace any 240V halogens you have, but you will have to remove the transformer and add a GU10 adaptor to your existing fittings if you are replacing 12v halogens. As this is fixed wiring it requires a licensed electrician, but it is a simple job and shouldnt take them long.
The compact size means that the maximum wattage we have available at the moment is 11w, roughly equivalent to a 50w halogen. However the light quality is a little different. Halogen downlights tend to throw a very directed beam of light that is tightly focussed in the centre, while fluoro lamps tend to spread the light very evenly across a wide angle. An 11w micro fluoro lamp emits the same amount of light as a 50w halogen, however the light is spread more evenly and there are no bright spots to grab the eyes attention. This means that we perceive the light levels as being slightly lower than with halogens. If you want the same perceived light levels, you will need to install additional light fittings.
LED - LEDsor Light Emitting Diodes are semiconductor devices which emit light. They can potentially have a very long life (100,000 hours), offer reasonably high efficiencies and are compact, very rugged and highly controllable for both colour and brightness.
Currently, LEDs tend to be very focussed light sources and there are limitations on the power output levels, so they are not very practical for room lighting. (Yet!) However, they are ideal for display and task lighting, where the object to be lit is close to the light source. They make excellent workbench lamps in a kitchen or workshop and are ideal for lighting up works of art.
The range of fittings, colours and brightness levels available mean that LEDs have amazing potential for decorative lighting, whether in your garden, in a shop, around the house, for art or on your christmas tree.
Solar bud lighting - Recent technological advances have made it possible to use Solar Powered LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights for exterior decorative lighting. The result is much lower power consumption, longer life and when powered with solar panels, zero green house gas emissions. The use of solar power also means total flexibility in locating the lights, as no 240-volt power is required.
