Fluorescent Kitchen Lighting For Your Home

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) along with more traditional fluorescent lamps are now being aggressively marketed as environmentally friendly due to their reduced electricity consumption. Indeed, widespread replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs will greatly reduce electricity demand; however, there are safety issues that ultimately contribute to making LED fluorescent kitchen lighting the superior choice. Understanding fluorescent kitchen lighting risks can help ensure that fluorescent light bulbs are used and disposed of safely while explaining why LED fluorescent kitchen light is the safest and most eco-friendly kitchen fluorescent light choice in the long run.

Mercury

The most commonly cited fluorescent kitchen lighting hazard is mercury. Fluorescent and CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury and are identified with the elemental symbol Hg. When these bulbs are cold, some of the mercury in the lamp is in liquid form, but while the lamp is operating or when the lamp is hot, most of the mercury is in a gaseous or vapor form.

Mercury vapor is extremely toxic. Even in liquid form, contact with mercury is considered life-threatening or a “severe” risk to health. Even very small doses of mercury can cause severe respiratory tract damage, brain damage, kidney damage, central nervous system damage, and many other serious medical conditions.

CFLs average less than 4 milligrams of mercury, about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams, an amount equal to the mercury in 125 or more CFLs. Although the amount of mercury in each fluorescent lamp is small, it is always important to avoid breaking fluorescent lamps, and used bulbs must be delivered to a hazardous waste handler. Never place fluorescent lamps in trash compactors or incinerators, since this will release the mercury and contaminate the surrounding area.

Disposed of improperly, mercury can contaminate buildings, landfills, lakes, animals, fish, birds, humans, crops and rivers. In the US, the EPA has ordered waste handlers to treat fluorescent lamps as hazardous waste. With such a classification, fluorescent lamps are not to be sent to landfills, but instead are to be sent to recycling centers that break the lamps under special conditions and safely recover the mercury. Up to 95 percent of the mercury contained in CFLs can be recovered if the bulbs are recycled properly.

Mercury-containing lamps generated by households and small businesses are not always subject to legal restrictions regarding their disposal. State laws vary and some states, such as California, Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Vermont and Massachusetts, prohibit all mercury-containing lamps, including CFLs, from being discarded in the solid waste stream. In addition, many local ordinances require recycling of mercury-containing products, including kitchen fluorescent lighting. It is best to check with your municipality to understand whether there are local requirements addressing mercury-containing waste disposal.

Because mercury will be released if a fluorescent lamp is broken, it is important to install fixtures in areas where the lamps are not likely to be broken. Fixtures in areas close to the ground or in areas with moving equipment should use metal or plastic shields to protect the lamp from being broken. If a fluorescent lamp breaks, there are numerous safety and cleanup issues which we discuss in more detail in the following section.

Breakage

Fluorescent lamps create several hazards if broken. Depending on the type, there may be a partial vacuum or the lamp may be under pressure. Breaking the glass can cause shrapnel injuries, along with the release of mercury and other hazardous compounds.

The biggest immediate injury threat from a broken lamp is from the phosphor-coated glass. If cut with fluorescent lamp glass, any phosphor that gets into the wound is likely to prevent blood clotting and will interfere with healing. Such injuries should be treated seriously and immediate medical attention should be obtained for people or pets that are cut. Medical personnel should be informed that the injuries were caused by a broken fluorescent lamp, and that mercury was present.

To minimize exposure to mercury vapor, EPA and other experts advise a few precautions. Children and pets should stay away from the area, and windows should be opened for at least 15 minutes so that vapors may disperse. Cleanup can be done by hand using disposable materials. Use rubber disposable gloves and scoop up the materials with stiff paper or cardboard. Use sticky tape to pick up small pieces and powder, clean the area with a damp paper towel, and dispose of the materials in an outside trash can. Never use a vacuum because this will only disperse the mercury vapor and leave particles trapped inside the cleaner bag.

Dimmers

Never use a CFL with a dimmer in the circuit (unless it is specifically made to work with dimmers), even if the dimmer is set at the maximum setting. Doing so places you at risk of fire and at the very least will dramatically shorten the life of the lamp and the dimmer. Also most photocells, motion sensors and electric timers are not designed to work with a CFL. Check with the manufacturer for the use of a CFL for these types of fixtures.

To use a CFL on a dimmer switch, you must buy a bulb that’s specifically made to work with dimmers (check the package). GE makes a dimming compact fluorescent light bulb (called the Energy Smart Dimming Spirals®) that is specially designed for use with dimming switches. I don’t recommend using regular compact fluorescent bulbs with dimming switches, since this can shorten bulb life. Using a regular compact fluorescent bulb with a dimmer will also nullify the bulb’s warranty.

Finally, if a CFL bulb “buzzing” when it is installed in a fixture that is controlled by a dimmer switch, this is an indication that you have the wrong type of CFL bulb installed.

Electrical

Any fluorescent fixture that uses lamps longer than 24″ or that is used outdoors or in a damp, wet, or high-humidity location must have an electrical ground for the fixture and ballast. All rapid-start and instant-start fluorescent fixtures must have an electrical ground in order to operate properly. Fixtures with longer lamps operate at higher voltages, with some fixtures having starting voltages across the lamp as high as 950 VAC. Voltages at this level represent a strong shock hazard and improperly grounded fixtures or direct contact with electrical connectors or other wiring can result in severe injury or death.

When servicing fluorescent fixtures and lamps, electrical power to the entire fixture should be disconnected. This is not always practical in situations where a large number of fixtures are controlled from the same power control (such as in open office areas). In these cases, insulating gloves and a nonmetallic ladder should be used if the fixtures must be serviced when power is present. This advice also applies when retrofitting a fluorescent fixture to mount LED tube lights.

Short-Wave Ultraviolet Light

A long-term hazard from kitchen fluorescent light is the shorter-wave ultraviolet (UV) light that escapes the lamp. No matter how well crafted, some short-wave ultraviolet light escapes from every fluorescent lamp made. Short-wave UV light is one of the damaging components of the suns rays that reach the surface of the Earth, which can directly damage organic tissue and trigger cancers. Short-wave UV light can also age or damage paper, fabrics and other materials.

Generally, fixtures with a plastic lens leak the smallest amount of UV light, mainly because most of the ultraviolet light gets absorbed in the plastic lens. Fluorescent fluorescent kitchen lighting in museums, archival libraries and manufacturing “clean room” areas usually have UV-absorbing sheeting applied to the lamps or the fixture lens to eliminate all UV light. LED bulbs do not produce any UV light.

Flicker and Glare

Flicker and glare from fluorescent lights can also cause headaches and have been found to impact learning and ability to concentrate. Although humans cannot see fluorescent lights flicker, the sensory system in some individuals can somehow detect the flicker. Ever since fluorescent kitchen light was introduced in workplaces, there have been complaints about headaches, eye strain and general eye discomfort. These complaints have been associated with the light flicker from fluorescent lights. When compared to regular fluorescent lights with magnetic ballasts, the use of high frequency electronic ballasts fluorescent lights resulted in more than a 50% drop in complaints of eye strain and headaches. There tended to be fewer complaints of headaches among workers on higher floors compared to those closer to ground level; that is, workers exposed to more natural light experienced fewer health effects.

Long-term clinical studies that conclude kitchen fluorescent light in schools may be related to many academic and health problems. A 2006 study found that students in schools with natural light instead of fluorescent kitchen lighting had a 10% to 21% higher learning rate and higher test scores. Fluorescent fluorescent kitchen lighting may trigger headaches, migraines and other physical symptoms. Many children have been mislabeled with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, reading problems and dyslexia all because of students having to work under fluorescent lights. With cool-white fluorescent kitchen light some students demonstrated hyperactivity, fatigue, irritability, and attention deficits.

Lamps operating on alternating current (AC) electric systems produce light flickering at a frequency of 120 Hertz (Hz, cycles per second), twice the power line frequency of 60 Hz (50 Hz in many countries outside North America). Essentially, the power is turning on and off 120 times a second (actually the voltage varies from +120 volts to -120 volts, 60 times or cycles a second and is at zero volts twice in one cycle). People cannot notice the flicker in fluorescent lights that have a flicker rate of 120 cycles per second (or 120 Hz).

Flicker is usually a potential problem only with fluorescent kitchen lighting that require the use of ballasts, like fluorescent lights. Incandescent lights usually do not cause a flicker problem since the light filaments generally do not cool quickly enough (and make the light dimmer) during the “off” time as the voltage changes in the AC power line. New, energy-efficient electronic ballasts take the 60 Hz power and convert it to voltages at a much higher frequency. The resulting flicker frequency is so high that the human eye cannot detect any fluctuation in the light intensity – essentially flicker-free. An added benefit is that electronic ballasts produce less hum than that emitted by other kinds of ballasts.

Manufacturers and regulators have taken steps to eliminate this problem with LED lights. In the US, the new Energy Star criteria for integrated LED replacement lamps include a requirement for 150 Hz operation (now being challenged by manufacturers who cite studies that 120 Hz is sufficient). The majority of low-frequency AC LED systems already operate in the rectified mode, which effectively doubles the luminous modulation frequency to 120Hz for 60Hz mains in the US. Despite many attempts, laboratory investigations have not found statistically significant evidence of luminous modulation with frequencies over 100Hz on human performance, health, or comfort.

The two most effective energy saving lights are Compact Fluorescent (CFL) and Light Emitting Diode (LED). These two types of kitchen fluorescent light systems are increasingly becoming popular because homeowners recognize that they offer fantastic energy savings benefits. Even though LED and CFL are more expensive than the regular incandescent bulbs, these have proven to last considerably longer which can mean that you will require less bulb replacements. As a result over time, you will end up saving some money.

The CFL light bulbs are smaller variations of traditional fluorescent lights. They are generally a wonderful option since they will conserve energy by not producing equally as much heat like an incandescent bulb, plus they can also last much longer. In reality, CFL’s make use of 1/3 of the electrical power and could last about ten times longer than incandescent bulbs. Just one 18 watt CFL bulb can be used in instead of a 75 watt incandescent and you can get to save around 570 kWh throughout its lifespan. Some people are worried about utilizing these bulbs because they contain small quantities of mercury. However, this presents no danger or risk unless of course the bulb is shattered and even when this happen this will not pose any significant risk if wiped clean and discarded correctly.

LED light bulbs are definitely the future. Even though, these lights are much less popular compared to CFL, they are rapidly gaining popularity because they are more accessible for home fluorescent kitchen lighting requirements. With time, as technology advances, the costs will most likely be a little more inexpensive for many homeowners. One of the major downside of LED is the fact that they are still very costly. The best feature of these bulbs is that they have a very long life-span, can last for 50,000 – 60,000 hours. LED bulbs tend to be more desirable to some people, because mercury is not found inside much like the CFL bulbs.

In general, LED and CFL light bulbs offer excellent options to traditional incandescent bulbs. Consider one of these bulbs to see how you can conserve energy and benefit from savings.

So now its time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. There are some very important guidelines to follow when doing electrical work:

-MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF AND THERE IS NO CHANCE OF IT ACCIDENTALLY BEING TURNED ON WHILE WORKING ON IT.

-Have all the materials you will need for your project. There is nothing worse than being half way in your project to find out you don’t have everything you need.

-Have the right tool for the job your doing

Following our safety guide we need to turn the power off to the light. You can just turn the switch off to the light and that will remove power, but we need to make sure nobody will accidentally turn it on when your working on it. So find your fuse box or circuit panel and shut the breaker off as well. Look for breaker tags such as gen fluorescent kitchen light or fluorescent kitchen light. that we know we are safe to work on the fluorescent light here are the tools you will need:

-A fiberglass ladder (make sure it is fiberglass when working with electricity because fiberglass does not conduct electricity.)

-Lineman pliers

-Nut driver

-Wire strippers

-Voltage tester

Now that we have our tools we need to rule out some simple fixes. I have been on calls that I felt so bad charging a customer for something they easily could have done themselves. Number one thing to do is replace the bulb. Keep in mind there are two types most commonly found and they are T-12 and T-8. The T-12 is a fat tube and a T-8 is thin in circumference, that’s the easiest way to figure out what it is. If your still not sure remove the bulb and look at the end of the tube and there will be a model number on it with either T-12 of T-8 in or around that area.

Ok, so we changed the bulb and it’s not the fix. The problem most likely lies in the ballast. By removing the center cover we can access the ballast, you should see wire colors of black, red, blue, yellow, white and green. Before you remove anything you need to make sure you have the right type of ballast. Make sure the model numbers are the same and the type of ballast is the same. All newer fixtures use electronic ballasts, while older models might use rapid start, and magnetic type ballasts as some examples. We know we have the right ballast so what I do before I even remove the ballast is take the black and white wire from the ceiling box and remove it from the ballast without touching the bare copper and test them with your voltage tester to make absolute sure they are dead,cap each one with a wire nut, these wires are what give power to the ballast.

Look at the colors and where there connected to. I then cut the wires with my linesmans pliers after the wire nut. I do this because when you put the new ballast in it will have the same colored leads as the old one, so you can use it to help you reconnect the colors of wires to the light. After you cut the wires remove the ballast with your nut driver making sure not to lose that nut you will need it later!!! CAUTION: The ballast may be hot to the touch, put some gloves on or use a rag when handling the ballast. Install the new ballast by aligning it into the slots and the hole where the nut was. Simply fasten the nut down and the ballast should now be secured to the fixture. Now connect blue to blue, red to red, yellow to yellow using orange wire nuts. Next hook up the black wire being careful because this is your “HOT” wire to the black and the white to the white. One thing you need to do when connecting the wires is to make sure that you twist your wires together, do not just rely on the wire nut. If you do not twist your wires it could cause a fire by not having a good connection.

Place the cover back on the fixture, put some new lamps in and your done.

Turn the breaker back on at the panel, turn the switch on and let there be light. Now the bragging starts.

LED fluorescent kitchen lighting is truly the next generation technology which features numerous benefits to not only consumers for Home LED Lighting, but businesses alike, with LED Down fluorescent kitchen lighting products and LED Tubes which can replace out-dated, buzzing fluorescent kitchen lighting. LED fluorescent kitchen lighting offers such benefits as a higher energy efficiency than CFLs and fluorescents, lower power consumption, lower maintenance costs, longer lifetime (50,000 hours compared to less than 10,000), durability and brighter light output than conventional fluorescent kitchen lighting. LED fluorescent kitchen lighting is slowly filling the Home Lighting and Business Lighting market place with such innovative products as LED T5 and LED T8 Tubes, Flexible LED Lighting, and LED Down Lighting.

Fluorescent fluorescent kitchen lighting contains toxic materials such as mercury which is harmful to environment and human body. Did you know that if you drop or break a fluorescent bulb you must leave the room for 4 hours, due to the toxic materials floating in the air, which could cause respiratory damage, or Asthma in the long run for workers who have to deal with these fixtures daily. For workers and personnel who replace fluorescent tubes at work such as electricians are the most impressed by LED tubes, since they are not only easier to install, requiring no ballast, but they are worry-free, as they can last upwards of 10 years, on for 24 hours a day, and do not contain any toxic materials like mercury dust that fluorescents do. For quick installation, LED tube fluorescent kitchen lighting can be placed and installed directly into existing fluorescent T5 and T8 sized sockets, you only need to remove the ballast, plug the LED bulbs in, and you’re done! Contrary to popular belief, LEDs are very easy to install in this day and age, and the bulk of LED products are now “plug-and-play” while still offering a slick look with unmatched energy savings.

Although fluorescent kitchen lighting is more energy efficient than incandescent fluorescent kitchen light it is still an energy wasting monster when compared with LED fluorescent kitchen light. For businesses who have a large electric bill, switching to LEDs could cut your energy bill in half, while still keeping all of the brightness, and no fluorescent flickering! Even with the most advanced state of the art CFLs, fluorescent kitchen lighting accounts for a high percentage in existing fluorescent kitchen lighting all over the world, switching from fluorescent kitchen lighting into LED kitchen fluorescent light can greatly reduce the global fluorescent kitchen lighting power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Now let’s do some detailed analysis to compare LED and kitchen fluorescent light and there is no doubt that LED will defeat kitchen fluorescent light. of all, LED fluorescent kitchen lighting is more energy efficient than kitchen fluorescent lighting due to the high efficacy of LEDs. LEDs for interior fluorescent kitchen lighting have already broken the efficacy record of 100 lumen per watt, while kitchen fluorescent light only has an efficacy of around 60 lumen per watt. LED has a power factor of 0.9, which means most of the power is converted into light, but when kitchen fluorescent light works, a huge amount of power is converted into heat which will be dispersed finally. LED fluorescent kitchen lighting consumes only 30% energy as fluorescent kitchen lighting to deliver the same lumen output.

Secondly, Flexible LED fluorescent kitchen lighting has a much longer lifetime than fluorescent kitchen lighting since LED kitchen fluorescent light is solid state fluorescent kitchen lighting which more stable and reliable. LEDs can last over 50,000 hours which means 17 years under normal use. Whereas kitchen fluorescent lighting only has a lifetime of around 5,000 hours, which means you have to replace them as often. Using LED fluorescent kitchen lighting can greatly save your expenses which are used to buy new light bulbs and pay for the labor.

In addition, the light quality of LED down kitchen fluorescent light is much better than that of fluorescent kitchen lighting. Fluorescent fluorescent kitchen lighting is always flickering when start up, while LED fluorescent kitchen lighting is quick to start up without any flickering. We all know and have seen or live with flickering fluorescent tubes on a daily basis. They’ve actually been proven to cause headaches, due to the micro-pulse wavelength they emit. Using LEDs can reduce workplace strain, headaches, and increase efficiency, with workers at top performance, minus the migraines from CFLs!

When on for hours a day, for a long period of time, fluorescent kitchen lighting may have some hot spots due to heat it generates, which does not happen to LED fluorescent kitchen lighting. These hotspots cause the rest of the light to become dimmer, and quickly results in a dead CFL tube, a perfect reason to switch to LED T8 Tubes or T5 tubes, depending on the socket size. Fluorescent fluorescent kitchen lighting / CFL pigtails can cause eyestrain, but LED fluorescent kitchen light does not as a result of its uniform and unparalleled balanced light output, and does not flicker or emit a low pitched humming like the earlier fluorescent technology. Today, Flexible LED Lighting, Home LEDs, and Downlighs / LED Tubes are more eco-friendly than ever, beating fluorescent kitchen lighting by upwards of 500% – Translation: Savings on your energy bill for both your home and office fluorescent kitchen lighting fixtures. And of course, Fluorescent kitchen fluorescent lighting contains toxic materials such as mercury which can cause air pollution if broken, and when thrown out and can cause permanent damage to the lungs and throat / skin if contact is frequent, or daily.

In contrast, LED fluorescent kitchen lighting is solid state kitchen fluorescent light which does not contain any filaments that could break (like incandescent) or hazardous materials like CFLs. Someone may say that the upfront costs of LED kitchen fluorescent light is too high, due to the technology used to achieve such a high lumens per watt (efficacy) rating, it is true. However, think about the long term energy savings, and savings you will get from not needing to replace the lights, for up to 5 or 10 times as long, depending if the light replaced was incandescent or fluorescent. Either way, the more high energy halogen, incandescent, or fluorescent lights you replace, the more money you will save every month. Some towns and states even have a tax-rebate / government program that pays you / reimburses you for energy saving LED bulbs. Check with your local town, half the bill could be on them due to recent energy grants and programs setup by President Obama in early 2010. Over the full life of the LED fixture / tube or bulb, the money saved by using LED fluorescent kitchen lighting will be enormous? Why’s that? When factoring in the true price of kitchen fluorescent light you must include all 3 variables: Upfront costs, maintenance costs, and a maintenance main to routinely replace your lights.. that is of course, if you aren’t using LEDs!

In my opinion, LED fluorescent kitchen lighting will replace kitchen fluorescent light since it meets the requirements of sustainable development, incandescent kitchen fluorescent lighting due to energy savings and durability, and halogen fluorescent kitchen lighting due to the heat, safety factor, and of course energy usage! Replace your money hungry lights at the home, office, hotel, casino, college, dorm, or even your RV to save battery power! Go green and truly be eco-friendly with LED fluorescent kitchen lighting and don’t forget to PROPERLY dispose of CFL lights in a sealed garbage bag (or two, or your garbage mans health).