Q: I'm looking for some energy efficient track lighting. Does such a thing exist? I'd like to minimize the amount of electrical work that I do to add more overhead lighting to my long, narrow hallway. Track lighting would be ideal because I could attach it to the one place in the hallway that already has wiring and still provide lighting along the entire length of the hallway.
- Posted by Jenny
We have CFL's like the 16w one linked in many of the lights in the store where I work, and they are great for track lighting.
view midnightskyfibers's profile
I use regular old CFLs (the ones that look like corkscrews) in my track lighting and they work great. They're actually brighter and give a clearer light than the incandescents we used to have in there.
view Risako's profile
We have also just started selling energy efficient CFL bulbs for track lighting at Lightology.
view Benjy's profile
Jenny,
There's no easy answer, or a really affordably solution. True, you can install CFL's in lieu of incandescent but that limits you to some pretty traditional and, in my opinion, dated fixtures.
What I have been looking at is installing a track, cable or monorail with halogen bulbs and then installing them with LED's that are available for $20 - $30 per bulb.
That seems expensive but the bulb should last about 10-years Vs. 3 or 4 with a halogen and they use 1/3 the electricity.
Unfortunately, if you are in California, and you need a building permit to install the work, you can't do this with the changes to Title-24. If that's your case too, please, PLEASE, let me know what you decide to do.
view Scot's profile
Scot,
I had purchased some LED's as replacement bulbs for my halogen track lights. It all sounded good on paper. The LED was to replace a 30W light.... It was horrible. The light was very dim. The bulbs we tried were not there yet. We returned the bulbs and got our money back... and are impatiently waiting for bright LED's now. (I think they were about $15/bulb.... maybe you get what you pay for....but I would want to see the light before ordering online or something)
view SoSue's profile