Living Like Ed - (Page 42) over the life of that bulb, you’re going to be eliminating much more mercury than you’re creating. The difference is like a teaspoon to a tanker truck. Really. 2. The quality of light is not as good. I hear this from Rachelle a lot. And in her defense, the light from the early CFLs was sometimes white and harsh, much like the long tubular fluorescents used in offices and businesses. But the newer CFLs come in a wide variety of wattages with softer, warmer glows. RACHELLE’S TURN I remember when Ed was going to get rid of the antique chandelier in our dining room. It’s from the 1930s, when the RACHELLE’S house was first built, and I loved it, but Ed decided to replace TURN it because it wasn’t “efficient.” He planned to replace it with this modern thing, a real monstrosity. I just said, “That’s it. I’m outta here. I can’t live here unless the chandelier stays.” 42 So Ed put it back up and he put compact fluorescent bulbs in it. That was before the industry had come out with CFLs that could be dimmed, so your choice was either on or off, and the light was really harsh back then. It was horrifying. In the end I just left the chandelier off and lit candles in the dining room. (Fortunately I love candles.) But compact fluorescent lightbulbs have gotten so much better, thank goodness! We’ve reached a point where I can even turn on the chandelier again! The light is softer, and you can dim them, too. So Ed added a dimmer switch to the chandelier and he put in the newer bulbs, and it’s fine now. I’ve even found a way to live with some of the older CFLs that we have that are still working—and Ed will be the first to tell you that these things last forever. I just put a lamp shade on them to change the color and soften the light. So believe me, fluorescent lighting in your home doesn’t have to be horrible. cooling bills, change from old single-pane windows to double-pane windows. Curtains—and other
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.