scott wrote:
>> I don't know about CFLs, but our house has several "energy saving" 
>> lighting units. The problem is, there's a 20 minute delay between 
>> turning them on and being able to see where you're going...
> 
> Yup, and not having studied them carefully, I hear they make a slight 
> buzzing noise which can be annoying in a quiet room (eg while trying to 
> read).

I haven't found that to be a problem yet.

The main problem for me is that they're just not bright enough. I 
actually can't tell what colour my clothes are in the morning because I 
don't have 20 minutes to stand there waiting for the thing to get bright.

>> LEDs are indeed efficient, but the main problems currently seem to be 
>> making "white" light with them,
> 
> There's no problem with making white light, the most efficient way is 
> just to put a mixture of different coloured LEDs in one "lamp" to give 
> whatever white temperature you want.  The other way is to put a yellow 
> phosphor infront of a blue LED, but that's not as efficient electrically 
> (it means you can get white from a single LED though).

OK, I rephrase: I personally have yet to see a "white" LED that wasn't 
actually pale blue.

>> and illuminating large areas.
> 
> The biggest problem is keeping the LED temperature low enough during 
> use, the designs I've seen have been mainly heat sink, but they seem to 
> have overcome that for 60W and 100W equivalent bulbs:
> 
> http://www.metaefficient.com/leds/led-light-bulbs.html

Well, I'm sure the technology won't stand still. IIRC, my dad has some 
small LED ligth fittings illuminating the stairs. But they're not very 
bright. (Despite containing about a dozen LEDs each.)

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