#incandescent — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Malka Beth @[email protected] · 2026-06-28 · 17:19 UTC

Continuing my research- to include daylight hours, rainy/snowy days.... because for a few years now we've mostly used sunlight (ambient) & LED flashlights (task) to at least try to meet our lighting needs ---

Also #incandescent #lighting fixtures are still being produced and sold, they'll still last 20-30 years without any real problem, 40 -50 with pretty much the same maintenance that will have #LEDs lasting 10-20 years.

It's a choice of burning/spending sizably up front & hoping at least your warrantees hold up for LEDs, and replacing said fixtures 5-10 times as often, while you spend next to nothing on electricity(the bulb prices don't matter much even as they're much more expensive because odds are said bulbs will outlast the fixtures they're placed in) .... or spending much less on incandescent fixtures, much less often, until & unless they're banned again, while you spend sizably on electricity for their use & change the bulbs for them that are much cheaper, far more often. (Yes, I'll likely reformat this into a chart eventually.)

I think overall layered lighting design is important but not really for the commonly given reasons for it.

For ambient lighting provided by ceiling fixtures, especially high ceilings, getting incandescent fixtures installed makes the most sense, because they're needed & will be used the least in number of hours, but when they don't work create a real hazard, and while an extension pole kit will definitely work to change a bulb, it won't change a fixture. Also note that even as getting dimmable LED lighting wont really affect the fixture or bulb in their lifespan, getting & using dimmable incandescent lighting (all bulbs of that type are, it's just a switch for them) will lengthen their lifespan, to the point where you could have an incandescent outlasting an LED, especially in hot & humid spots.

(For every 10°C up from about 25°C/77°F, you'll loose half an LEDs hourly lifespan & similarly over 25% relative humidity will drop them another 1/3rd , so as my kitchen ceilings are generally around 38°C/100°F for at least 1/2 of every year, more likely 2/3rds and 1/4th year 48°C & 75% relative humidity, the typical labeled 20 years & 25,000hrs, will in fact be around 2.5 years & 3,000hrs---

Dimming an incandescent by each 10% will double its hourly lifespan, so at 20% you'd get a 4,000 hour lifespan from that cheap 1,000 incandescent bulb, aka 25% more than the LED.)

For accent lighting, especially artwork, where it's a sconce or pole lamp, get an LED because odds are the art will move/rotate out & you don't want to risk the heat incandescents generate harming the piece.

For task lighting---it depends on the task
plug-in LED lamps
battery operated LEDs & hooks to quickly easily replace them
Incandescents for lower lumen tasks -like stair climbing

For decorative lighting- if you have it -completely individual- odds are if I get anything it'll be for nightime seasonal indoor displays- odds are I'll get an LED to plug in.

#incandescent #lighting #leds