The price of a LED lights is dropping and it soon will be reasonable enough to consider using at home. Does anyone have any experience using LED bulbs with X10 systems? If so do they require an appliance module like CFL's or will they work with a lamp module? Due to their extended life and even lower energy consumption they look like a good future alternative.
I have tried dimming LED's. And whereas the test bulb did dim... it didn't last long. I wouldn't use lamp modules on LED's or CFL...even is they claim to be dimable. The appliance modules sometimes work... but often leak enough power to allow CFL's to flicker or LEDs to glow (dimmed). SocketRockets can seem to work... but aren't recommended for ether CFL's or LED's...
I don't believe.
There is NO single perfect light source.... except maybe the sun. Sunlight is certainly priced right and its light spectrum seems well suited for most people. I have often considered
light tubes [ran from roof through the back of closets] as a way to get natural light to my basement areas.
CFL are a environmental hazard... by anyones standard. I don't know of anyone that would recommend their use around children.
Although I do use them myself. Incandescence and halogen both produce much more heat than light... although the spectrum's are pleasing. LED's lights are still pricey to buy... but their off colored, directional, and dim light...
doesn't cost much to operate (I love that part).
I think that currently the best solution isn't a single easy fix.. but a new attitude towards lighting.. as the science it really is.
I am old enough to remember when poorly wired homes were more the normal than the exception. One large light bulb in a fixture (often on the ceiling) would provide light for an entire room. It wasn't unusual back then to see 150 watt bulbs in those fixtures even though the fixtures were often rated for only half that wattage. But safety concerns were discarded then... much the same as we discard safety and use CFL's today.
Efficient, effective, pleasing light can only be obtained by proper planning and good wiring. A lot of a little bit of everything... is much better than an all of one thing.