Library builder

WHAT TO AVOID Automatic ice makers. Ice makers con­sume energy, though exactly how much is difficult to determine. WHAT TO LOOK FOR • The Energy Star label. The U. S. Environ­mental Protection Agency confers its En­ergy Star label on models that are at least 20% more energy efficient than the federal minimum. Shopping for this […]

W hen it comes to electricity consump­tion, the kitchen is the hungriest room in the house. Kitchen appliances— including refrigerators, freezers, ranges, and dishwashers—account for nearly 27% of household electricity use. Collectively, that’s more than 300 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) per year in the United States, or roughly the electricity output of 90 average-size coal […]

LEDs produce a focused beam of light. Al­though their relatively small output means they can’t throw light as far as some incan — descents, there are plenty of circumstances where they work well as task lights. And they’re ideal for accent lights because they don’t produce UV-light that damages paint­ings and fabrics. Because LEDs are […]

Both CFLs and LEDs are available with screw-in bases as replacement bulbs for ex­isting fixtures, but if you are building a new home or remodeling, you might consider fixtures dedicated to one technology or the other. Dedicated fixtures can lengthen the lifespan of the bulb and maximize its strengths. Both CFLs and LEDs play a […]

LEDs are a Silicon Valley technology, manu­factured in a clean room, just like a comput­er chip. Electrical current runs through the 1-sq.-mm chip, exciting the electrons and creating light. A small bulblike cover focuses the light. LEDs can’t actually produce white light; white light must be created either by combining colors or by using a […]

sion. Today’s CFLs, however, produce light in the 2,700 K range, mimicking the warm, amber-hued light of incandescent bulbs (see the sidebar on the facing page). Also, the old magnetic ballasts have been replaced with quiet electronic ballasts that don’t flicker. CFLs are dramatically more efficient than incandescent lightbulbs, using between 50% and 80% less […]

When I show my clients a typical CFL— the type shaped like swirly soft ice cream— they immediately hate it. It doesn’t matter if the light it produces has a beautiful color, if it operates quietly, or if it’s dimmable. They just have a visceral, negative reac­tion because they can see that the sourceof light […]

TASK LiGHTiNG: BOTH LEDs AND FLUORESCENTS Are up TO The Job Task lighting is the lighting by which you do work, including undercabinet lighting in a kitchen, closet lighting, and reading lamps. The optimum task light provides shadow — free light and is located between your head and the worksurface. Depending on the type of […]

COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS An aversion to fluorescents is understand­able because they have been so awful for so long. They didn’t dim easily; they buzzed and gave off weird colors. And sadly, the push to offer CFLs at a price point close to that of a standard incandescent household bulb has given fluorescents a bad name […]

While new ways of producing light offer lots of design possibilities, it still makes sense to stick with the tried-and-true basics of lightlayering that designers have long relied on to produce attractive, well-lit spaces. Light layering incorporates four specific types of lighting to create a well-lit environment: task, accent, decorative, and most impor­tant, ambient light. […]