Fluorescent Lights
Unfortunately, fluorescent lighting carries the old negative stigma of providing flickering, sickly-green-tinted, institutional, headache-causing, noisy light. If you think these lights are "good only for the garage, " think again.
Times have changed. Fluorescents are not only one of the most efficient options around, offering the longest-life bulb, they come in a variety of colors, types and sizes. Best of all, with the new electronic ballasts, they are quiet.
Fluorescent lights are phosphor-coated glass tubes filled with an inert gas and a small amount of mercury. Because different brands can have different mixes of gases inside, fluorescents produce a wide assortment of color light that match the warm glow of incandescents.
All fluorescent lights need a controlling ballast to operate. The ballast alters the electric current flowing through the fluorescent tube, activating the gas inside and causing it to glow. Newly developed electronic ballasts eliminate that annoying flicker and buzz that used to occur with old magnetic ballasts, which were also heavier and less efficient. But there are now even more impressive improvements to the design of fluorescent lights.
To create the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent tube uses only one-quarter to one-third of the energy. Plus, fluorescents last 10 to 15 times longer - 10,000 hours or more.
