Energy Saving Light Fixtures for Your Home

Choosing the right bulb and fixture for energy savings has become a practical necessity for homeowners. Beyond just building and selling homes, however there is a practical need for homes to feature energy saving lighting fixtures when placed on the market for sale. One way to add value to a home and increase the possibility of a sale in today's troubled housing market is to install energy saving light bulbs and fixtures.

Homeowners can add affordable and energy efficient lighting throughout a home for very little money these days. Energy saving light bulbs are available in two forms, familiar fluorescent lights, or tubes, and compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs. CFLs have become far more affordable and are in greater demand than the old tube-style light bulbs. Older fluorescent light tubes are still being used for energy savings in buildings that require lots of direct overhead lighting.

The major drawback with using fluorescent lights has always been the quality of the color of the light they produce. With the need to offset rising energy costs, fluorescent light bulbs have evolved into several different shapes and smaller sizes that yield the same amount of light as their less-atttractive predecessors. Fluorescent light bulbs that produce a full light spectrum are now available. These bulbs are ideal for almost any application, including kitchen lighting, under cabinet fluorescent lighting, commercial fluorescent lighting and even decorative fluorescent lighting. Over the years, fluorescent lighting fixtures have gained wide spread acceptance, typically installed in kitchens, bathrooms and family rooms where abundant overhead lighting is required.

Long lasting and energy efficient CFL bulbs are now smaller than ever and suitable for almost every lighting situation. Fluorescent light bulbs are completely adaptable for ambient lighting effects, task lighting, or accent lighting situations. There is also a plant-friendly fluorescent light that enhances growing indoor plants.

Due to the need to save energy and reduce expenses, compact fluorescent bulbs are replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs everywhere. With remarkable improvements in porportion, style and shape, CFL bulbs are far more economical, making them the best choice for most household and office lighting situations. One negative aspect of using CFL bulbs is that they are not usable with a dimmer switch. Despite this problem, however, they have gained wide spread popularity with interior designers.

Nowadays, CFL bulbs come in a wide selection of sizes, shapes, and lumens. Today's models are totally unlike those earlier models that have an ugly, commercial appearance. New compact fluorescent feature smaller sizes, longer lives, instant-on and the same energy efficiency as earlier models. Today's CFL bulbs are available as "Super Savers", "micro-mini", "Instant-On", "Soft White" and "Now smaller than ever". While the initial outlay for CFL bulbs can be a bit daunting, there are several buying initiatives underway to help consumers offset the cost. When buying CFL replacement bulbs, consumers should match the amount of light, or lumens, required for each location and the lowest power consumption, as measured in watts.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are destined to advance in energy savings technology, efficiency, and design. Maintaining a good lighting style is a matter of blending together the different elements present in individual rooms. When considering the optimal light design, determining the amount of energy savings is a good beginning, but in the end design, function and decor determine which type of fixture suits your needs the best.

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