An arc floor lamp is a light source used mostly to produce bright white or egg white illumination after sunset. The majority of the existing E27 sockets used in these devices are still filled with luminescent light bulbs, which waste precious electric power during operation. Due to this very reason the United States plans on shifting them out in favor of CF bulbs by 2014.

It’s a well know fact that normal light bulbs use 95% of all electric power they draw to produce heat rather than light. It’s due to the way it operates. In a luminescent bulb there is a tungsten spiral that is heated by its own internal resistance, therefore its main goal is to produce heat. As a byproduct it also emits light.

As we can see the normal light bulbs are highly inefficient way of producing light in normal lamps people use in their rooms. A CF or compact fluorescent bulb is four times as efficient and returns the initial investment in the first 6 months. It’s clearly visible that CF bulbs used in lamps in the United States today act as a short to midterm investment, and when choosing the right one the light doesn’t get any worse than with the old versions.

The most often made mistake when buying an arco floor lamp with a CF bulb is that the customer doesn’t pick the right one. The color is often too white; some people actually refer to it as ‘dentist white’, not a pleasant feeling to have in your own living room, is it? To avoid feeling yourself at the dentist’s chair, pick a bulb that produces a more natural 2850 Kelvin. Don’t forget that the lamp shade greatly modifies the tone of light.