3 ms·

That is a bit of a surprise. On the face of it one might expect Jevons paradox[1] to take hold, but I guess a home is a pretty closed system and there aren't to

That is a bit of a surprise. On the face of it one might expect Jevons paradox[1] to take hold, but I guess a home is a pretty closed system and there aren't too many new places to use power. More gadgets, yes, but a person can only use so many gadgets at once. I for one find myself wanting to install more subtle light now that my power bill is so low (almost completely 10W, 13W and 18W CFLs). I started wondering where I can get creative, such as putting 0.5, 1 or 2 watt under-the-cupboard lights to gently illuminate the kitchen counters. I already have some brass wall-mounted "candles" that use 0.5 watt bulbs; they are nice and subtle night lights, and leaving them on all year round would be less than 8 dollars a year. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox (see especially http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox#Khazzoom-Brookes_postulate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox#Khazzoom-Brookes...)

andreyf 15y ago
I've also been thinking of experimenting with subtle LED lighting around my place, and would appreciate any advice/feedback you have about different hardware.
- sokoloff 15y ago
  I put LED rope lights on top on my kitchen cabinets and the indirect light is great for nighttime dealing with baby bottles, snacks, etc and they also look nice in the day. I just leave them on all the time. Has really cut back on using the halogen under cabinet lights or the 9 overhead CFLs. Also have a small LED lamp in the bath fan/light. Obvious middle of night advantages there: don't need to burn your retinas with the normal lights.
- tesseract 15y ago
  I just recently bought and installed some LED ribbon lights[1] above my home desk/workbench for task lighting. I got them "raw" so the project involved some soldering and, for appearances' sake, mounting them inside a piece of aluminum channel but I am quite pleased with the result. I don't know your experience with LED lighting or LED flashlights but unless you are very certain you want "cool white", you should probably opt for "warm white" which tends to be in the 2700-3300K range and matches the color temperature of a modern, non-"daylight" CFL. [1] e.g. http://www.adafruit.com/products/357 http://www.adafruit.com/products/357 - or you can go the route I did and order 5-meter reels direct from China on eBay; they run $30-$40
  - Egregore 15y ago
    Are these waterproof ribbon lights safe for in-home use? Here in local market I was told that these are for outdoor use and not designed for indoor.
    - tesseract 15y ago
      You can get them without the silicone waterproofing tube, or remove it if you have ones that came with that. Ideally they should be stuck to a material such as metal that can help with conductive heat dissipation - especially if you get the kind with extra-bright "5050" LEDs rather than the standard "3528" components. However I don't think that is absolutely necessary - and I have also never heard of any kind of warnings against using them indoors, whether waterproof or not.

andreyf 15y ago

I've also been thinking of experimenting with subtle LED lighting around my place, and would appreciate any advice/feedback you have about different hardware.

sokoloff 15y ago
I put LED rope lights on top on my kitchen cabinets and the indirect light is great for nighttime dealing with baby bottles, snacks, etc and they also look nice in the day. I just leave them on all the time. Has really cut back on using the halogen under cabinet lights or the 9 overhead CFLs. Also have a small LED lamp in the bath fan/light. Obvious middle of night advantages there: don't need to burn your retinas with the normal lights.
tesseract 15y ago
I just recently bought and installed some LED ribbon lights[1] above my home desk/workbench for task lighting. I got them "raw" so the project involved some soldering and, for appearances' sake, mounting them inside a piece of aluminum channel but I am quite pleased with the result. I don't know your experience with LED lighting or LED flashlights but unless you are very certain you want "cool white", you should probably opt for "warm white" which tends to be in the 2700-3300K range and matches the color temperature of a modern, non-"daylight" CFL. [1] e.g. http://www.adafruit.com/products/357 http://www.adafruit.com/products/357 - or you can go the route I did and order 5-meter reels direct from China on eBay; they run $30-$40
- Egregore 15y ago
  Are these waterproof ribbon lights safe for in-home use? Here in local market I was told that these are for outdoor use and not designed for indoor.
  - tesseract 15y ago
    You can get them without the silicone waterproofing tube, or remove it if you have ones that came with that. Ideally they should be stuck to a material such as metal that can help with conductive heat dissipation - especially if you get the kind with extra-bright "5050" LEDs rather than the standard "3528" components. However I don't think that is absolutely necessary - and I have also never heard of any kind of warnings against using them indoors, whether waterproof or not.