The Changing Light

After over 120 years of use, the incandescent light bulb or Edison bulb is in the process of being banned worldwide and is already banned in certain parts of the world, including the EU, Australia and California. The bulb is going to be phased out in favour of new, energy-saving solutions; such as halogen, LED bulbs. The current incandescent light bulb only uses less than 10 percent of the energy that runs through it, and today, with the world’s energy crises we can hardly afford to keep them in production. Now look around your home and I’m sure you will find at least one, if not many, of these types of bulbs and fittings built specifically for them. This change will definitely affect lighting design throughout homes; as bulbs are no longer manufactured, lights will have to change to suit new bulbs with better efficiencies.

However many designers are already thinking of new and innovative ways to solve this problem. The Iris Design Studio creates innovative lighting solutions that serve as unique and innovative replacements to the standard Edison bulb. The La Paz bulbs and accessories collection at first glance looks like a string of standard Edison bulbs that form a chandelier; but take a closer look. Upon examination it is evident that the bulbs are not attached to a standard fitting and the real light source actually comes from another source within the cleverly mastered façade. There are energy efficient halogen capsules within what appears to be an incandescent light bulb. This light source, although small, is extremely strong and provides a good source of light for any room. This collection comes in a series of innovative and eye-catching designs to suit any living and décor style.

This is not where the innovation ends; throughout the collections new light sources that embrace solutions to the world’s energy crises are used. The Salvador wall lamps incorporate an LED system that has a range of advantages over the standard incandescent light bulb; not only is it more energy efficient, it has a longer lifetime, faster switching and improved durability and reliability. The effect of this RGB LED lighting is also extremely beautiful as a rainbow of colours is thrown up against a wall or ceiling. Where as in the Iguazu or Olinda wall lamps an energy efficient circline fluorescent bulb is used to create more light while harnessing less energy and the Perito Moreno range uses the same halogen capsule system as the La Paz collection.

When viewing these wonderful alternatives we begin to ask ourselves why we still have that one, or many, incandescent bulbs still hanging in our home. Perhaps in this case change is a good thing, a very good thing.