Derek Marshall Lighting       Tel: 800-497-3891        Fax: 866-537-7338            Email Link:

HOME     I    ALL SCONCES   I   GLASS SCONCES    I   about derek marshall   I    PENDANTS     I    GLASS  NOTES     I FAQ    I   ORDER   I   CATALOG

 

Miniature, or compact, fluorescent bulbs offer significant energy savings as compared to regular incandescent bulbs. They also produce less heat for an equivalent amount of light and are therefore safer to use against combustible walls. On the negative side, they do not offer full spectrum light, but various color indexes are generally available. They also suffer from diminishing light output over time. The more they are turned on and off, the shorter their life. Be on the lookout for new technologies coming which will exceed the performance of even these efficient lighting components.
The new compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) will fit in most of Derek Marshall wall sconces. These have  a  screw base like a standard incandescent  and will fit into any normal incandescent bulb holder. 
These are readily available in various wattages, typically 13 watts to 30+ watts, and can be found in your local hardware store. There are many configurations from different manufacturers offering multi-tubes and twisted tubes, all of which reduces the bulb length enabling them to fit into most of our sconces.
I

While fluorescent bulbs have come a long way in the past few years, they are not without problems. First is color rendition. Some bulbs will appear quite white, others pink or yellow. Some bulbs tell you their color temperature, some don't.  Sometimes these color variations are only a problem if you mix different bulbs from different manufacturers. Even so, the spectrum from these bulbs is not a smooth continuum as from an incandescent bulb. Some colors will be missing which means that objects seen under this light may appear different than they do in daylight or under incandescent bulbs.  This can be more or less objectionable depending on your requirements. Generally speaking, a temperature of 3000k will give colors truest to daylight. But remember, the eye adapts to the yellow-orange of regular incandescent quite easily and sees it as near white, so introducing fluorescent into a room with standard incandescent can be a strange experience to most people.

Also, fluorescents will darken with age and give a diminished output. Most fluorescents cannot be dimmed, although there are some on the market now which have a dimming capability.

 

A note on halogen bulbs: If you want halogen light, which is a very white form of incandescent bulb, we recommend the use of double encapsulated halogen bulbs usually available in hardware stores. These bulbs have a thick glass shell and look like normal incandescent bulbs, but inside is another, smaller halogen bulb, with powers usually from 60 to 100 watts.

This is one type of double envelope halogen bulb. It may be used just about anywhere an ordinary incandescent bulb is used. The benefits are longer life and a whiter light than ordinary incandescents, but they cost more.