Lights Out On Edison

Posted on 08-18-2014

 You walk off the city street into a restaurant touting a farm-to-table concept with an organic menu.  The aesthetics are quite pleasing with a no-nonsense, rustic appeal, but the real charm is hanging overhead.  Exposed, dimly-lit bulbs are the real appeal with their 1920’s style and easy on the eyes glow.  Everything about this restaurant seems so right, right? 

The Edison bulbs have been quite the trend for awhile as they can be seen hanging in restaurants, coffee houses, and those amazing lofts in décor magazines that make you envy the owner.  Edison bulbs do have great eye-appeal, no argument there.  The argument with using such bulbs is in the fact that they are incandescent bulbs.  In other words, that earth-friendly restaurant described above isn’t using energy efficient lights.  Instead, so many restaurants are opting for bulbs that use 8 to 10 times the power than CFL or LED bulbs.

So impressed with the lighting at the organic restaurant, you decide to find such bulbs for your own home.  Searching online, you find Edison-inspired bulbs on sites like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware selling for $15.00 for a bulb that lasts about 3000 hours.  You also realize that you will need more lighting in the room since the bulb only has 118 lumens, in other words, it’s dim.