Q - I am remodeling my living room and family room. I want to use modern, decorator lighting, but I want it to be energy-efficient to hold my electric bills down. What types of "neat" lights should I consider? F.C.
A - Interesting and well-planned lighting can have a great effect on the decor and ambiance of your home and on your monthly electric bills. A combination of various types of lighting is effective because different activities require different lighting intensities and quality.Some of the most recent "neat" lighting innovations utilize new low-voltage (12 volts) halogen bulbs. These give off a pleasant bright white light and are energy-efficient. Since a specially shaped and coated reflector focuses the light where you want it, you need less total wattage.
One new modern design uses movable low-voltage lights that hook over two fine wires suspended near the ceiling. You hang the individual "wire walker" lights from the wires and can move and direct the lights where you need them. Other similar designs use magnets to attach the lights to the low-voltage wires. Since they are only 12 volts, they are safe.
Other modern-looking lighting systems utilizes low-voltage lights mounted in plastic tubes. These tubes can be assembled in many patterns and the individual lights can be rotated in different directions. You can also get new colored very efficient fluorescent tubes that resemble neon lights.
There are special low-voltage strip lights designed to be hidden from view. They can be hidden in recesses in corners, bookcases or kitchen cabinets to provide background light. They are also effective for use behind stair handrails for safety. Other designs combine high-intensity halo-gens and low-intensity fluorescents in one fixture for your study or work room.
New programmed lighting controls can save electricity. These controls utilize a microprocessor that remembers various lighting patterns for each room of your house. By pushing one button, you turn off or dim lights that you would normally leave on until you get up for some other reason. You can still use your regular wall switches.
For example, for entertaining in the living room, you can program one button to dim the general room lighting by 40 percent, brighten some wall accents by 50 percent, and brighten a light over a snack table by 80 percent. You can program the other buttons for the best lighting for reading, watching TV, etc.
You can write to me for UTILITY BILLS UPDATE No. 222 showing a list of 20 manufacturers of new and unique lighting products and controls and a description of the types of products they offer. Write to James Dulley, The Deseret News, 6906 Royal Green Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244. Please include $1 and a self-addressed business-size envelope.
Q - I am planning to build a super-insulated house using insulated stress-skin panels. Would it be a good idea to also use insulated stress-skin panels for the floor over the crawl-space? I.K.
A - First, it is generally not a good idea to build a superinsulated house over a crawl space. It can lead to moisture problems if it is not designed and built very carefully. A slab is often better because it is easier to insulate around its perimeter and the heavy concrete material acts as a heat storage mass.
If you definitely plan to build over a crawl space, use reasonably thick insulated stress skin panels (4-inch thick) to make then worthwhile.
Carefully waterproof the crawl space and provide plenty of ventilation, both summer and winter. The stress-skin panel floor blocks the heat loss.