I recently came across a very interesting article explaining the differences between CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) and LED lighting.
One of the main points made is that CFLs and fluorescent lights in general contain a small amount of mercury which of course is a well-known toxic substance. Furthermore as the lamps become hot so the mercury changes state from liquid into a gas, which is highly toxic, more so than in its liquid state. The EPA have recognised this and classified fluorescent lighting
typical CFl bulbs
bulbs and tubes as hazardous waste. So of course we should not just dispose of them as if they were non-toxic glass. For instance if they ended up in a landfill, the toxic mercury would just get added to the environment; or worse still if it were incinerated, the poisonous gas is released into our atmosphere.
The insidious thing behind this of course is that there is a huge drive from governmental and non-governmental agencies to use and change to CFLs for their energy efficiency as opposed to the original incandescent lighting. Fortunately – if they are properly recycled - apparently around 95% of that mercury can be prevented from entering our environment and possibly even recycled.
The article also discusses the dangers of using dimmers with CFLs; particularly if they start to buzz – the bulbs are almost certainly not suitable for use with dimmers.
eco-friendly LED bulb
Another point made is that CFLs apparently use a high frequency ultraviolet light wave, which is also a danger to our health and is cited as a cause for cancer, for instance.
Again the relatively low frequency flashing of using standard 50 – 60 hertz AC power can cause all sorts of health problems, headaches migraine and so on. This compares with the LED lighting system which realises that effect and have upped the flashing frequency from 60 to 120Hz. Now the Energy Star are even questioning this and want to increase the hundred and 20 Hz up to 150 Hz, though this is still in debate. you may like to download this PDF issued by Energy Star on Cleaning-up-&-disposal-of-CFLs as and when they break
Thanks to myefficientplanet.com for drawing our attention to this area.
Filed under eco lighting by on Mar 29th, 2010. Comment. 
Near ketchum and in Idaho, David and Jill Hitchins built their dream house filled with memorabilia
and re-creations of their shared memories. What caught my eye was their decision to include replicas of the spectacularly beautiful Sputnik or Starburst crystal chandeliers from the Metropolitan Opera house.
Their home, which many of us could only dream about, took five years to complete and by all accounts the couple (who recently celebrated their 
sapphire wedding anniversary, by the way) - and their family – were very happy with the results. They talk about the inside decor and furniture as a coming together of many of their travels and memories. The original Starburst crystal chandeliers were presented to the Metropolitan Opera house in Manhattan New York. Whether you’ve seen them or not, beauty is always worth a second look and so I have included a few snaps.
Central foyer balcony view
Now just a quick reminder about its history: the chandeliers were created by a family business and were installed for the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera house. That goes back to a September 16, 1966, and with the rapturous reception they received at that time, they also received the nickname of sputniks. That is because each chandelier had a central section with seemingly orbiting moons or in those days people prefer to call them Sputniks.
Viewed from directly below
Whatever the name, their beauty and creative innovation was undeniable! There were actually 32 crystal chandeliers installed at that time, 11 in the foyer and 21 in the main auditorium. That made for a lot of crystal – 49,000 pieces in all and sparklingly arrayed on metal rods randomly radiating out from its central core to make them seem like light beams. The showcase chandelier was actually a stunning 18 foot across – no wonder the applause and reception they received!
Recently the whole series of these chandeliers were completely refurbished and all the crystals were changed to Swarovski crystals.
(Dream house photo by Tory Taglio)
Filed under news by on Mar 28th, 2010. Comment.
Earth Hour Alert – Saturday 27th March at 8.30 pm
I can hardly think of a better way of starting a more in depth analysis and promotion of environmentally concerned eco-lighting than by reminding everyone of the Earth Hour coming up tomorrow, Saturday, 27th March at 8:30 PM. So whatever country you are in, you are asked to turn off as much energy guzzling appliances, lighting and particularly nonessential external and internal lighting.
There are numerous reasons for doing so but perhaps three of the prime ones are that of:
1. You will actually be reducing the carbon imprint of your household if only for one hour.
2. The very process of involving yourself in turning off unnecessary appliances and lighting increases your awareness of where you might be wasting electricity, which of course also costs you more, let alone the environment.
3. A demonstration of solidarity: the fact that you see so many other people also responding to this Earth Hour is an added appreciation that you are not the only person doing this. So then, if we all, or even a good proportion of us, do respond to these environmentally beneficial initiatives, we can at least feel that our world is benefiting.
I realize that many of us already know the various tips on energy saving and things to do that can help reduce climate change but I think no harm is done in reiterating.
- Planting trees helps to re-balance the proportion of oxygen to carbon dioxide.
- Make sure that you buy energy efficient appliances when you are upgrading any electrical equipment. It is worth mentioning that it can be economically viable to immediately change as many of your electrical appliances – that are in regular use – if your present ones are 5 to 10 years old. This is because the advances made in energy efficiency over these last 5 to 10 years is so great, that you will benefit from the reduction in your energy bills.
- Make sure that you have changed your old incandescent style (40watt, 60w ,100w, etc) light bulbs with the compact fluorescent light bulbs – CFL’s for short. They are generally seven times more energy efficient in light production per unit watt.
- Are you recycling as much of your waste as is possible? More and more recycling methods and materials are now available within the local communities. It’s worth keeping a regular check to see if there is more that you can do it the recycling of glass, aluminium, plastic, paper, metals – and as I said the list is getting bigger.
- Check through your storage rooms to see what you can give away to charity shops, or even sell second-hand. Whatever you’re not using, other people may well find useful and so cuts down on more manufacturing demands.
Do let’s remember to respond to the Earth hour initiative and increase our community stand for our environment and our world – please!
Filed under news by on Mar 26th, 2010. 4 Comments.
Did you know that, what is purported to be, the largest chandelier in the world, is just one of the numerous and extraordinary features of the magnificently adorned Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque – the landmark centrepiece of Abu Dhabi.
The crystal chandelier has been placed inside the main dome at an astonishing height of around 70 metres! It is the largest of 7 chandeliers that adorn this national icon, which also happens to be the third largest mosque in the world. All the chandeliers are made from Swarovski crystal and are gold-plated,using 24 carat gold.
You will have a chance to catch a glimpse of this in the upcoming National Geographic 60-minute documentary on Abu Dhabi.
Filed under news by on Mar 25th, 2010. Comment.
With the Milan Design Week 2010 starting in three weeks time (14th – 19th April), news is already trickling through of a spectacular new chandelier design using Swarovski crystals. The creation is by the Japanese designer, Tokujin Yoshioka, who first came into the limelight through his Honey-pop paper chair creation some nine years ago.
Stardust from Swarovski Crystal Palace
He is also a contributor to the Swarovski Crystal Palace with his highly acclaimed Dust Star crystal chandelier. Furthermore he has permanent displays at the MoMA (Museum of modern Art) in New York the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and several other prominent design centres.
Stella Crystal Chandelier
His “Stella” creation will be debuting at the Milan design centre and is a crystal chandelier said to look like a starburst, being spherical in shape and brilliant light beaming from it. (No prizes for guessing that it features a Swarovski crystal structure.) He explains his intention behind this extraordinarily lucent crystal chandelier as wanting to create a radiant star-like image. It certainly brings images of exploding stars from the first Star Wars film, though any denigration of this creation through using such Hollywood imagery must be ignored.
He further explains his affinity to crystals with terms of poetry and eye-catching transparency. The importance of this new design was to create something that would enlighten the viewer’s heart. Not just to create another chandelier from crystal.
This post was inspired by Lisa Smith’s blog recent blog.
2010.05.04
Here’s another spectacle from the Japanese designer, Tokujin Yoshioka (on the left). This is from another exhibition later this month. It is an 80 ft wall of crystal that has been 20 years in the making. Well, that’s when he first conceived of the idea. The inspiration is derived from Henri Matisse’s stained glass creations that Yoshioka first saw when he visited the Le Cinquentenaire de la Chapelle du Rosaire deVence (see right).
Filed under crystal chandelier by on Mar 24th, 2010. 1 Comment.
This is more to remind me of the territory that I have covered that may be of use to others interested in discovering the possibilities of using WordPress as both a blog and as a CMS system. At present I envisage opening 4 separate blogs within directories of this chandelier-mall domain:
1. A principal actual “blog” for posting content (this one) – relating to chandeliers, lighting in general and more specifically eco-lighting.
In addition I will include at least three other blogs with provisional titles and functions as follows:
2. Lighting Discounts, Reviews and Savings – to include the latest offers and discounts from a variety of Internet lighting merchants together with tips on economising generally.
3. Reflections – to express some of my off topic thoughts, values, way of life and as a way to offer some of my hypnosis and Buddhist audio creations.
4. A CMS System to introduce the old site principal and information pages within the WordPress blog umbrella.
Themes
In addition I hope to introduce slightly modified themes for the major products/categories, which are envisage to be crystal, antler, Murano, contemporary and wrought iron chandeliers; and also for eco-lighting, as well as the lighting discounts and the reflections blogs. I also installed and played around a bit with the Gimp photo editor. After going through one tutorial I managed to produce a simple header, (using a plasma tool I think it was called) which is “very temporary”! – just a bit of fun really.
As far as themes are concerned, I have been dabbling with the Lotus Flower (hopefully the 3 column), Semioilogic, Classica to mention the three main ones.
the Flowerily Theme
2010.03.20:
So now exploring the Flowerily theme – needed to edit/delete the header text & header.php & footer.php – here is screenshot:
Plugins
This is also an area that needs quite careful consideration. I am presently using the Admin Menu, Adsense Integrator, Google Analyticator – this list is bound to grow.
I have presently spent up to 3 days trying to establish a good system for drop-down menus but have not yet managed that, so have put that aside; these include Pixopoint, Dtabs amongst others. It seems these systems provide little information and then expect you to pay to get the job done, slightly frustrating really!. If there’s anyone out there who reads this they are very welcome to get some input.
Filed under general by on Mar 19th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Welcome everyone to my latest blog which starts off as integrated within my chandelier-mall.com site. As usual my ideas and concepts for revamping my four year old site are somewhat grandiose and will take months to implement. However I decided that rather than wait for perfection I will at least get blogging.
Effortlessly Floating Up!
As I mentioned in the about page, I am keen to introduce a large section on environmentally optimised (eco-friendly, green, etc) lighting products.
On a personal note, I am also wanting to distribute freely some of my audio creations and feel free to express my interests more openly; and for this I shall introduce a separate blog but within the site.
Rocketing to the Top!
At present I will continue exploring the possibilities and potential within the WordPress blogging format but hope to make the occasional posts over the next month or two.
My thanks to my readers and sponsors alike!
Soaring to dizzy heights
Filed under lighting by on Mar 19th, 2010. Comment.
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Filed under general by on Jun 16th, 2007. Comment.
