apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love the idea of walking to the bathroom with this in the middle of the night and then walking back to bed without having to turn any lights on and off along the way!

It doesn't look like it provides very much light...

Seems to dim to be useful.

I've got some Candela lights - http://www.vessel.com/prod_light_can4.html - and while they're quite dim, they're perfect for middle of the night bathroom trips, like you mentioned, Marie. They don't hurt my eyes when I have to turn them on in the night and don't seem to destroy my night vision as quickly because they're dim.

I'd have to see these in person to see if I think they're too dim or not - they do look too dim for reading in the photo, but showing light accurately is hard. I also wonder if this isn't too large. If I'm going to find a reading spot, I've got a book and a drink and this light.

I'm a firm maybe on this one. I like the concept, but pricepoint (Candelas are expensive. I lucked out and got them in a raffle. Would these be any cheaper?) brightness, and weight would be big factors with me.

Hm. Compare this to the Vessel company's "Luau" lamp. http://www.vessel.com/prod_light_luau.html Bright enough?

I guess I just question the idea that a lamp that doesn't actually illuminate much of anything is a particularly "green" purchase.

This may be a case where an LED lamp that doesn't illuminate much is more "green" than an incandescent lamp that doesn't illuminate much. Leaving aside the usefulness of a glimmer of light on the way to the bathroom at 2 a.m. --

-- Is accent lighting just inherently ungreen?

Ambient lighting (so you can see where you're going) and task lighting (so you can see what you're doing) are fairly comfortable to justify unless you're on board to renounce the modern world, but accent lighting is just for pretties. Is the environmental impact justified for something that's purely for looks?

I'm not anti accent lighting per se, I just don't see what's especially eco-friendly about it.

I have accent lighting in my home, in fact mine is probably far less energy efficient than these LED's. I just don't know that I'd consider it a "green" feature -- more like a not-green indulgence.

I guess I can see this championed because it's a slightly more green alternative, but this looks WAY less illuminatey than even my least utilitarian accent lights.