Re: halogen lamp on x10

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

<bcboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message >

> >> I do have an IR temp gun.
>
> > May I ask what for?
>
> Baking bread?
>
> Seriously, I have a wood-fired clay oven. You can test the temp by
> tossing in some semolina and seeing how fast it burns, but it's
> sometimes easier to use a temp gun, especially to see variations across
> the oven. I lurked on ebay for some time to find one at a price that
> made sense for hobby baking.

It seems that they are getting cheaper and cheaper.  I'll probably pick one
up just to have one.  :-)

> Anyway, sounds like I should just ditch the torchiere.

I would, unless I made sure that it was made as safe as you can make it.
Even then, considering they're more deadly than Billy the Kid AND Jesse
James combined, I'd sure want to know what they were up to all the time.

> I haven't found
> a fixture I actually like in my living room. It's a wide room, with 8
> foot ceilings. Most lamps look rather lost in it. They don't put out
> enough light.

Look at CFL's in the 50W range.  I have high ceilings and you could afford
to run 6 of them for the electric costs of a single 300W halogen.  I think
that the CFL's will put out the equivalent of 1200W of incandescent or
halogen lamps with very little chance of accidental ignition.  The problems,
of course, are the some CFL's can't be dimmed, some that interfere with X-10
and some that will age quickly if they are short-cycled frequently.

> The torchiere at least lights the room, but it's annoying
> in other ways. I'd prefer some sort of built-in, but hanging fixtures
> would make the ceilings seem even lower. We could raise a section of
> ceiling and do architectural lighting, but it's not really in our
> budget. I'm now thinking about CF reflectors in recessed cans, and
> something to wash the ceiling. Dunno what that will be, though.

The problem that really vexes me is that big CFL bulbs don't fit a lot of
sockets very well.  I read the instructions on one Lights of America bulbs
that said to never screw the bulb in by holding the glass tubes.  Good luck
on that!

Also, because they are much larger than a standard bulb (at least the high
wattage varieties that you're likely to want) they tend to cast very sharp
shadows if the reflector's too shallow.

One thing I really like is that in the summer, I can have lots of light
without generating a lot of heat that I have to remove with increased
airconditioning.  I think the cost of running a halogen high wattage bulb in
the summer really raises the operating cost, especially if you're in an area
that hikes the electric rates in the summer.  On the flipside, you'll be
able to heat your home with the spill heat from the halogens in the winter!

--
Bobby G.