Do it Yourself: [DIY] Re: Light Bulb Socket

26 January 2013

[DIY] Re: Light Bulb Socket

Posted by: "Jan Flood" jan.flood2@att.net jan.flood2@att.net

> need additional lighting when I'm working since there is only
> one 60w ceiling light.

Hi Jan;

I recommend that you replace your 60W ceiling bulb with
a 100W equivalent CFL bulb that will only use about 23W
(saving you 62% of your electricity) while giving you 67%
more light. 60W is not bright enough for a general lighting.

> I put the new sunshine floodlights in the kitchen a couple
> of years ago but last time I went to Lowes to buy them
> they were discontinued - he said they didn't sell enough
> of them.

If the "sunshine" floodlights produce light that is in the
daylight spectrum (instead of the yellowish light that most
of us are used to, for indoor lighting) then you can get CFL
bulbs that give off that kind of light. The reason they were
discontinued is likely because they did not meet up to the
current, stringent, energy efficiency standards.

> the cost to install new lighting is just more than we want
> to spend.

Replacing 60W bulbs with 100W equivalent CFLs is cheap.
In fact, I have a couple dozen that I got free. The government,
and utility companies have been giving them away. I have had
to pay for smaller wattage bulbs. I suspect that they only give
away the big ones (100W equivalent) because they do not
want people like you (who like bright lights) to be unsatisfied,
and think that CFLs are dim.

> I end up bringing things into the kitchen and working on the
> island right under several floodlights

Living rooms are not intended to be work areas. You may
not have noticed before, but living rooms do not have ceiling
lights for general lighting, like other rooms (bedrooms, kitchen,
bath, basement, etc) have. Instead, living rooms have an outlet
that is operated by a wall switch.

> I could have 3 walls of glass with southern exposure.

Hmmmmm Sounds like ONE wall with southern exposure,
one with eastern exposure, and one with western exposure.

> They were all $24,000 (+-) and there is no way we would
> recoup that money

You could probably build it yourself for as little as $10,000
(maybe even less, depending on size and details). Single story
additions, without plumbing, are fairly simple, especially if you
already have a door or window opening.

-Laren Corie-
Natural Solar Building Design and
Solar Heating/Natural Cooling/Energy
Efficiency Consultation Since 1975
www.ThermalAttic.com (many new
photos and pages, coming soon)

Read my Solar house design articles in:
-Energy Self-Sufficiency Newsletter-
www.essnmag.com

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