Fluorescent lighting is not only good for the environment, but also good for your wallet, and Meghan Carter of http://www.AsktheDecorator.com visited Kichler Lighting to discover the pros and cons of using fluorescent light bulbs in your home.

Video Transcription

Meghan: Fluorescents lighting has been getting a lot of buzz lately for being energy efficient. But some people have concerns about switching out your averaging candescent for fluorescent bulbs. And I am on my to kitchen lighting to find out the truth about fluorescents and whether it is a smart move to put them your lights. I am hitting the road, searching for answers and finding great design. It is a quest of beauty, function and of course inspiration. When I met with Jeff Dross of Kichler Lighting, he first caught me off the speed with the difference between fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are the top most people use in their homes. To create light incandescent bulbs require a filament that burns. Where just probably where the phrase it is burned out came from when a light bulb goes bad. But you cannot say that with fluorescents because they run off of gas which just what makes the more energy efficient. Why as there is more energy efficient than in incandescent? Jeff: It consumes less electricity to keep it light at an equal level. Essentially heat is a very inefficient light. Meghan: Whish is what incandescent is? Jeff: Which is what incandescent, exactly. So, it is very inefficient and it consumes a larger amount of electricity to keep that little element hot. This requires an initial charge to get the electrons excited but once the electron start moving, they really do not need a lot of additional incentive to continue to glow. Meghan: But I know it is not the science you want to hear about. You want to know how switching to fluorescent lighting will effect your pocket book. So, what the energy difference between this and the incandescent? Jeff: Well, I hate to see the boxes in the store that say you are going to save a $100.00. So, I have a really simple method. A normal 60 watt light bulb operating for four hours— Meghan: Incandescent light bulb. Jeff: Incandescent light bulb operating for four hours a day for one year compared with a 13 watt. Meghan: This is only 13 watts? Jeff: Yes. 13 watt is equal to 60 watts. Meghan: Oh, all right. Jeff: So you want to have the same amount of light output. So, you compare a 60 watt with a 13 watt fluorescent. Meghan: All right. Jeff: So, a 13 watt, same amount of hours, same amount of light output for the full year. You will save about five dollars. Meghan: Now multiply five dollars across every light bulb in your home. It can add up to quite a lot which means you could save a fair amount of money on your energy bill each year by switching to fluorescent bulbs especially if the lights in your home are on for more than four hours a day. Just keep in mind fluorescent bulbs do cross more than incandescent bulbs but fluorescents last much longer. Jeff: You are only replacing them every 10,000 hours. Meghan: Versus in incandescent that burns out. Jeff: About $800.00. Meghan: Well saving money and energy is great. Of course the main thing I was concerned about was the quality of light. And fluorescent lighting has not always been considered a pretty light because the light it cast off had a cool tone that was on appealing in the home. Where as incandescent bulbs were preferred because they gave off a pretty golden tone light. But apparently fluorescent light has become more attractive. Fluorescent lighting from my understanding is not as good of a quality of light, so it will change to everything looks in your house if you switch to fluorescent. Jeff: I think I would say that you are probably true if we were talking five years ago. Meghan: Really? Jeff: But in the last five years, this technology has matured and at a rapidly to the point where I do not believe that you cannot tell the difference between a fluorescent lamp and in an incandescent lamp. It is that close. Meghan: Really? Jeff: But keep in mind keep your color rendering index. Use a 2,700 Kelvin and yes that is what you want to look for in box. Meghan: And do not worry. You do not need to replace all of your lighting fixtures to change to fluorescents. You can find fluoresc