News
artificial lights
Lighting accounts for around 10% of electricity usage in households, and 18–40% of in commercial premises.
The good news is that we can achieve significant energy savings (and reductions on our electricity bills) by replacing inefficient lights with efficient CFL or LED alternatives – CFL and LED light bulbs are better value for money than incandescent and halogen light bulbs. They use around 75 per cent less electricity to produce the same amount of light and last significantly longer before needing to be replaced.
UV Light and CFLs
Is the level of ultraviolet light emitted by CFLs a cause for concern?
While it is true that some compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) do emit slightly more ultraviolet (UV) light than incandescent light bulbs, these emissions are not significant if the CFLs are installed more than 25 centimetres away from people, such as in ceiling fittings.
Of the tested lamps, those with the highest UV levels measured at a distance of 10 centimetres over a period of 8 hours was equivalent to spending approximately 6 minutes in the midday summer sunshine in Brisbane and 7 minutes in Melbourne. The study found that UV emissions from all lamps decreased rapidly with distance.
If you are concerned about UV exposure you should minimise the time spent closer than 25 centimetres from CFLs or use ‘double envelope’ or ‘covered’ CFLs – these types of lamps look similar to ‘pearl’ incandescents.
Downlight vs Pendant light
Using downlights rather than pendant or fluorescent fittings will mean you need to install more lights to light the same area, resulting in higher energy use and running costs. In the past, downlights often used halogen lamps which are high energy users. Low-energy downlight fittings are more commonly used now, including LEDs (light emitting diodes) or CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps). Both are more efficient and cheaper to run than halogen downlights.
Downlights can affect insulation
If you have multiple downlight fittings in your home, the insulation gap around the fittings will decrease the effectiveness of your home's ceiling insulation, increasing your heating, cooling and lighting costs. However IC rated downlight can come into direct contact with, and be abutted by building insulation.