Editor: I鈥檇 like to address the issue of the ban on incandescent light bulbs. The public should be made more aware of the steps being taken by governments to ban certain lamps.

As of now, both 75 watt and 100 watt A19 (your regular household light bulbs which have been around for years) are only being sold as quantities last, from stock manufactured last year. In January 2012, the 60 watt version will be banned as well.

CFLs and LED are two of a number of different options which are available. We sell them in our showroom with colours in 2700K (softer colour to match the typical A19), 4100K (brighter whiter colour, good for closets or storage rooms) and 5000K (work areas).

The issue of mercury has been around for years. Homeowners have had fluorescent tubes in garages, under cabinet lighting, and other areas in the home. The important thing is the fact that the consumer recycles their CFLs and tubes, which they can do by dropping them off at Design Lighting or other locations which recycle, such as Home Depot.

So if a home has 20 lamps to replace with CFLs, the total cost would be $64.60 plus HST. The homeowner will see a payback over time (lower energy consumption resulting in lower Hydro bills) by utilizing CFLs throughout their home.

There are still other options with incandescent lamps. One is the 鈥淜rypton鈥� lamp. This lamp comes in both candelabra (mini) and medium (regular socket) base. This is a very good quality of light which is similar to halogen in appearance, but at half the cost.

These lamps we sell for more than the old A19 bulbs, but they are a very high quality lamp. Halogen lamps are another option, both in recessed lighting as well as regular fixtures. Colour rendition is excellent if you鈥檙e concerned about not affecting the colour palette in an area of the home.

LED technology is changing on a daily basis. Many manufacturers are getting new chip technology regularly. The chip is the diode that produce the light, similar to chips on circuitry boards in electronics.

With the new chips, lumens per watt are increasing. That means the amount of light being produced uses less wattage or power.

LEDs are still cost prohibitive for many consumers. However, one should take into consideration these lamps will last most people鈥檚 lifetime. By implementing the use of LEDs, the consumer is being environmentally 鈥済reen,鈥� not only by using less power, but also by producing less waste.

I hope this sheds some 鈥渓ight鈥� on the issue.

Bill Dehaas, president,

Design Lighting