MotoFox wrote:

Much as I hate it myself, I do have to give compact fluorescent lighting
props for two things, though--(1) their heat output is far lower than
that of an incandescent bulb and (2) the light output is considerably
better than any LEDs I've ever seen. Personally, I can't figure out why
anyone would want these harsh blue LEDs polluting their houses, ...

That's not the fault of LEDs. LEDs like flourecent lights produce light
in a few different colors. Combining those colors into what you see as
white is done in your brain, and the proportion of those colors affects
what you see it as.

More blue and it looks like the daytime sky (hence the floursecent lamps
called daylight) and more red looks like fire light (hence the flourescent
lamps called warm white).

Early CFLs (around 15 years ago, when I first got them) were all daylight
and produced harsh unusable light. I could only use them outdoors and
in windowless rooms where cheap was more important than color.

Now it is easy to get warm CFLs and they are much more agreeable than
the old blue/green heavy ones the past.

LEDs will also move in that direction as people demand them.

Note that the color affects the way people think, and cool lights make them
more "edgy" which is good if you want people to work harder. Warm lights
make people feel more comfortable and mellow, which is better for homes,
etc.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(