Eco-Friendly Kitchen Lighting

Because of the desire of many people to "go green" the market for environmentally friendly, energy efficient products has grown significantly over the last ten years. Upgrading to high efficiency appliances is a major expense that most likely will be done one step at a time, as the old appliances wear out or when the budget is available. Installing eco-friendly kitchen lighting is a very simple first step to green-ing up your space. New technology has produced light bulbs with life spans of double to triple the old, incandescent bulbs. There are even some that can last up to 75 or 80 years! Here is a quick overview of the types of energy-saving light bulbs and fixtures that are available.

Eco-friendly kitchen lighting choices-halogen and xenon lights

In an incandescent light bulb (what most people still use) is made up of a thin glass bulb (called an envelope) filled with gas and a tungsten filament. The filament is heated by electricity; the heat reacts with the gasses inside to give of light. These bulbs are incredibly inefficient because they give off far more heat than light, which consumes more energy. An eco-friendly choice is using halogen or xenon lights. Halogen lights are similar to incandescent in that they have a tungsten filament, but the halogen gas doesn't burn as fast as the traditional bulbs, so they last much longer. A hazard of halogen bulbs is that they do get very hot, so take safety precautions when handling.

Eco-friendly kitchen lighting choice-compact florescent and LED lights

Compact florescent lights are being touted as the energy-efficient replacement for traditional incandescent bulbs. An inexpensive first step to creating an eco-friendly environment, they are especially good for kitchen lighting. Unlike old-style florescent lights, compact fluorescents come in several wattages and are without that weird glow of the original. Replacing your old bulbs with new will save you money by reducing the cost of buying replacement bulbs and on your energy bill, eventually.

The longest lasting, most eco-friendly lights available are LED lights. Replace your old track lights with new LED rope lighting (lights are in a plastic tube) and you will never have to worry about burnt out bulbs again. LED lights have the potential to have a 75 to 80 life span! Though LED's are much more expensive at first (twice or three times that of regular light fixtures), the energy savings and the fact that you never have to replace a light bulb again make the cost seem minimal.