Light Bulb Information

For compact fluorescent light bulbs to use with dimmers or three-way lamps, see the Wikipedia article on compact fluorescent light bulbs, which has links to several lists of models. The article is often updated.

Treehugger.com is a good site to check for the latest developments in light bulbs.

New energy-saving halogen light bulbs are explained on the Osram Sylvania site.

The Osram Sylvania site also offers a comparison between incandescent bulbs and halogen bulbs.

Philips halogen bulbs are explained on the Philips website.

LED light bulbs

Experts agree that LED light bulbs offer better energy savings than fluorescent lighting, but current LED bulbs for regular home lighting are still expensive. A December 2007 summary of the current prospects for LED technology is available from CNN.com.

An article in the November issue of Fine Homebuilding briefly summarizes the pros and cons of LED lights, especially compared with compact fluorescent light bulbs. It's available to online subscribers.

About.com's environmental issues guide addresses the potential for LED bulbs to replace compact fluorescent bulbs as the environmentally friendly lighting choice.

Light bulb research

U.S. News & World Report publishes a good summary of how U.S. energy legislation will affect us.

Basic light bulb reference information on sizes, shapes, color rendition and terms can be found at Bulborama.com.

A useful glossary of light bulb and lighting terms is found at LightBulbsDirect.com.

Lowes.com offers a buying guide that covers all kinds of light bulbs.

Don Klipstein Jr.'s site on lighting offers a wealth of information on all kinds of light bulbs, and is updated periodically.

A downloadable spreadsheet that allows you to calculate your savings from the use of CFLs is available at the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing's website.

The Energy Star site shows photos comparing compact fluorescent lamps at 2700 Kelvin and 3500 Kelvin.

The Lighting Research Center provides useful information on light and health.

The National Research Council of Canada Institute for Research in Construction publishes a critical summary of research on the health benefits of full-spectrum light bulbs.

Low Energy Lamps offers a fact sheet on the three main health risks associated with compact fluorescent lamps.

HealthCanada publishes a fact sheet saying that adults need not worry about EMF from household appliances or lighting.

Prevention magazine summarizes some studies about lighting and cancer.

U.S. News and World Report provides an article addressing the link between lighting and breast cancer in women.

For information on recycling used fluorescent lamps (including CFLs), see LampRecycle.org.

The Environmental Protection Agency provides detailed instructions on safe cleanup of a broken compact fluorescent bulb.

The EPA also maintains a web page with information about recycling light bulbs that contain mercury.

Light bulb manufacturers

There are dozens of brands of light bulbs, most manufactured by just a few companies.

Philips and TCP Inc. seem to be vying for the largest market share, but both companies manufacture light bulbs for various brands. Unless otherwise noted, light bulbs are manufactured in China.

BlueMax (made by Full Spectrum Solutions)

Bright Effects (sold at Lowe's)

C. Crane (LED light bulbs)

Commercial Electric (owned by TCP, sold at The Home Depot – now sold as N:Vision brand)

EarthLED (LED light bulbs)

EarthMate (made by Litetronics)

EcoLED (LED light bulbs)

Feit

Fresh2 (made by TCP)

GE

Globe

Greenlite (Canada)

Lights of America

Literonics

MaxLite

N:Vision (made by TCP, sold at The Home Depot)

Neolite (made by Literonics)

Osram Sylvania

Philips

SoLux (made by Tailored Lighting Inc.)

TCP Inc.