[ale] OT: Office lighting

[Glenn C. Lasher Jr.]

I haven't read the rest of the thread yet, but I do have some suggestions.

Four options:  Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent, LED.

We'll toss LED right off the bat because it is still way too expensive.

Halogen casts the "ideal" light, in that it is the same colour as
sunlight, to the point that either your fixture's lens or your bulbs will
have a coating on them to filter out harmful UV.  Halogen, however,
generates a LOT of heat.  If your A/C isn't in place yet, this may be a
bad idea.  Halogen is slightly less costly to run than incandescent,
producing a little more light per watt.

Incandescent is the cheap answer in the short run, but very costly in the
long run.  The light is slightly reddish, which is harmless as far as
seeing clearly goes.  However, they produce the least light per watt.

Fluorescent tubes come in a couple of different flavours.  I would suggest
putting in standard fixtures, and then fitting them with compact
fluorescent tubes, and if you then don't like them, you can go back to
incandescent or halogen.  Now, the varieties:

Magnetic ballast:  Don't get these, they are a pain in the *ss.  They tend
to start hard, and they flicker at 120 pulses per second.

Electronic ballast:  These are nice.  They come on immediately, and come
up to full brightness in about a minute.  They use an integral inverter to
produce a 20kHz AC to feed the tube, which, in turn, becomes a 40kHz
pulsation of the light.  This is indiscernable to the human eye in every
meaning of the word.

Dimmable:  Some CF lights can be connected to a standard incandescent
dimmer.  These are invariably electronic ballast lights.

I use compact fluorescent lights in every room of my house, in every light
fixture, except for three small fixtures over the kitchen counter, and two
outdoor fixtures, all of which are halogen.  Between them, I have five
brands of tubes in place, GE, Sylvania, Phillips, Sunbeam and Commercial
Electric.  The Sunbeam ones seem to provide the most light and the most
natural shade of light.  They can be gotten at K-Mart (if they're still in
busines in your area) for about $5 for a 24-watt tube (equivalent to a
100W incandescent).  The Commercial Electric ones I've only seen at Home
Depot.  They provide a starker white, more like the light of a halogen,
and are significantly smaller than any of the others.  They cost $8 for a
15W tube (supposedly equivalent to 60W bulb, but I think it is actually
brighter than that).  The Sylvania and Phillips tubes are good, but
pricier at $12-$15 a tube.  The GE tubes that I have are pretty bad, and I
wouldn't recommend them.

A quick word about fixtures is in order.  I like recessed fixtures, just
make sure that you steer them clear of the ceiling fan.  A ceiling fan
with a fixture in it is also a cool idea.  We have one of these in our
dining room.

Lastly, I would say that I think that fluorescent tubes generally aren't
an interference problem for computers.  Unless you are a shortwave
listener or a ham radio operator (I am both) you will have no problems.
If you are a shortwave listener or ham radio operator, you might consider
some carefully placed chokes on the light fixtures, as well as on your
computers and radios.

I hope this helps.

On Tue, 30 Apr 2002, Geoffrey wrote:

> I'm in the process of finishing up my new home office and was hoping to
> pick some brains here.  I'm currently working with a couple table lamps
> strategically placed along with a ceiling fan/light kit.  Total 3 bulbs,
> 120 watts.  I didn't want to use flouresent lighting as I didn't want
> interference from the lamps to screw with on my electonics in here.  I
> know, I know, the ceiling fan has a HUGE motor, but it's a necessity
> until I get the air conditioning installed. :)  Thing is, all offices
> have flouresent lighting.  I know it's cheaper, but it is better on the
> eyes?  Am I worrying needlessly over the flouresent issue?
>
> Any pointers would be appreciated as I've checked various web sites on
> 'home office' lighting computer and they still often suggest flouresent.
>
> --
> Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at 3times25.net
>
> I didn't have to buy my radio from a specific company to listen
> to FM, why doesn't that apply to the Internet (anymore...)?
>
>
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glasher at nycap.rr.com
You've been programmed by the Illuminati not to see the word "".


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