| In today's market plain old incandescent lights just | | | | became the next test target. Nothing different |
| don't cut it. Even Christmas lights have gone | | | | than non-dimmables was observed except the |
| "green" with LED's from Phillips, GE and several | | | | longevity. They quit after just 60 to 90 days. |
| other brands available just about anywhere. | | | | By the time the Phillips test was complete, LED |
| For the last 9 months we have been testing | | | | PAR style lights had come out of the |
| lighting systems and solutions. The temptation of | | | | stratosphere price range so they were added to |
| LED lights look great. At anywhere from one | | | | the testing. At first the color took a little getting |
| watt to 6 watts per bulb, you start to think | | | | used to and about the time we did, the lights |
| about just leaving the lights on all the time. In fact | | | | started to fail. They failed completely. In fact |
| for the back entry to my house I do. | | | | Lights of America sent out a great letter offering |
| When the process began, we started by outfitting | | | | full refunds because the lights we not making the |
| a 3500 square foot house with a combination of | | | | longevity advertised. The second batch sent to us |
| lighting controls to save energy and evaluate the | | | | failed more like street lights. Eight or Ten of the |
| controls. The controls will be saved for another | | | | little LED's would fail at a time until the lights were |
| article. Here I just wanted to focus on lights. | | | | totally gone. As you drive around look at traffic |
| We started off using n:Vision CFL. CFL stands for | | | | signals and note how "blotchy" they look. That is |
| compact fluorescent lights. Every light in the house | | | | the effect we saw. |
| was replaced to start the test. The color wasn't | | | | The next test were GE dimmable CFL's. The lights |
| acceptable for the kitchen so GE halogens were | | | | all performed very well and the color wasn't bad. |
| put in place. As we added dimmer circuits from | | | | In the smaller PAR series, day light colors became |
| Lutron, Leviton and Crestron. Each dimmer works | | | | available. Because of the color dimming doesn't |
| a little differently and we learned some tricks. | | | | appear to do much though. These are great for |
| In order to dim the lights, some CFL bulbs needed | | | | bathrooms and closets where color is important |
| to first come up to full power then reset to the | | | | and dimming isn't. These lights at 40% weren't |
| dimmed power. We could do that with the | | | | noticeably different than at 100%. We didn't test |
| macro's in the Crestron code. Lutron and Leviton | | | | any slide or rotator dimmers for this test. All |
| required that you manually select full on, then dim | | | | tested dimmers are electronic so they can be |
| to your selected level. Lots of testing and we | | | | added to a smart house. |
| learned some other interesting things about CFL's | | | | At the end of the day, we replaced over 60 can |
| and dimmers. Most dimmers, specifically the | | | | lights, 8 table lamps, 10 fan lamps, 8 porch light |
| electronic controlled dimmer need a load in order | | | | bubs an 20 outdoor spots with CFL and 9 outdoor |
| to operate properly. If there were one, two or | | | | cans that didn't dim with LED. The load was nearly |
| three CFL the dimmer would go nuts at anything | | | | 10,000 watts if all the lights were on for a party |
| over 90%. There just wasn't enough load for the | | | | (never mind the landscape lights). Today the load |
| switch. | | | | is just. 2269 Watts. That is a reduction of over |
| The first trick then was to make sure all scenes | | | | 60% in total lighting consumption for this house. All |
| in the program started at 50% and went no | | | | of these savings before we even talk about |
| higher than 85%. For the areas with four or five | | | | dimming. You can see why they say if every Wal |
| CFL's we could go from 20% to 95% just fine. | | | | Mart customer replaced just one incandescent |
| With more than five the dimmers worked normal. | | | | lights with CFL, we can start to make a |
| Clearly the dimmers need a load to work | | | | difference. Lets make that goal even higher. |
| properly, and two 13W CFL's aren't enough. | | | | The bottom line though is CFL's are definitely |
| One thing to keep in mind at this point is all the | | | | ready to replace lights all around the house in |
| bulbs tested were non-dimming. The next bulbs | | | | many styles. Conservation is the 5th energy |
| tested were from Costo. The shape and color | | | | source. Remember to recycle used CFL's so the |
| was better for outdoor lights, not as good for | | | | mercury can be handled properly. Most home |
| indoor. The operational quirks were the same. | | | | stores have a box for CFLS right next to the |
| When Phillips released their dimmable CFL they | | | | battery box at the door. |