Today – Tube light pros and cons
Tube light pros and cons for the home
When you think of tube lights you might think of an old school classroom, or of an office. Long fluorescent tube lights turn up almost everywhere in institutions and large spaces, because they can prove the most practical way to light spaces, if not the most attractive.
So why would you ever want a tube light in your own home when you have the freedom to choose whatever lighting you want? Could there be a way to make tube lights attractive and feel like a normal and aesthetic part of your home? Read on as we weigh up the pros and cons of tube lights in the home.
Ugly bright light
Fluorescent lights in particular can seem to bring an ugly bright white light which washes the colour out from things in the room below. This can feel very impersonal to have this kind of light fitting in your own private home. LED lights fare better for this with a warmer glow many find more palatable, tough tend to be more expensive to buy.
Energy use
Tied to the matter of expense is the question of how much energy is used by each kind of bulb. LED lights are by far the most effective form of lightbulb available at present, with the potential to save dozens or hundreds of pounds a year depending on what lighting you are currently using and how much it would cost to replace current bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs.
There are online calculators available which can help you to calculate the saving you would make in a year. If you offset your unique saving against the price of the replacing all bulbs it should give a much clearer idea of how to proceed going forward.
The question of hazardous waste
Fluorescent tube lights, while a staple of offices for what feels like forever, are currently in the process of being phased out in the United States. This is because they run using a mercury vapour, and so are registered by America’s Environmental Protection Agency as hazardous waste, an issue which has led to gradual widescale switching to LED across America, with replacement proving easy. In their place, the majority of cheap lighting fittings for shops, offices and hospitals will replace them with LED lights which, again, need less energy to achieve a similar amount of light.
Making tube lights in the home practical and stylish
Tube lights can offer a tasteful and useful item if deployed in the home well. They generate a lot of light so if a section of your home has poor light coverage, especially in winter, it can be worth investing in a floor lamp with a tube light to give your home the extra illumination, and flexibility of how bright you want the room on a given day. Adding a floor lamp to your room can make for a great statement piece. Whatever the style of your house, you will be able to find a floor lamp in a style that compliments it, and an energy-efficient LED tube light which pay for themselves in a few months.
Tube light pros and cons is a feature post – you might also like my post on easy ways to save money on your lighting
