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Casey Noble from Design on a Dime made an appearance on CBS’ The Talk today and in handing out advice about lighting she basically said, for all intents and purposes, to avoid fluorescent lighting, although she did qualify this in terms of the bedroom.

On The Talk's internet site about today's program, she is quoted as saying:

“Enhance color with lightning (sic).
Incidentally, even though we want and need to be at peace in our bedrooms, as a designer, that's where I often see the worst lightening (sic)! Humans have historically lived with natural light during the day and "fire" light at night; this makes people feel comfortable and relaxed. The best bulb to use to create the same color spectrum as a fire is an incandescent bulb or LED lights. They are warm and lovely. Just please, please stay away from florescent (sic)light bulbs in the bedroom! Florescent (sic) bulbs can hurt the eyes and they keep you wired and wound up.”

Casey needs to do a little research before she advises the public about factual design elements vs. subjective design elements. Spelling the words lighting and fluorescent correctly would be a plus as well.

Compact fluorescent lights (CFL), of which she had one in hand during the presentation, are now available in the same (in her words) “color spectrum as a fire is” and “are warm and lovely”.

The 'color temperature' of lighting is based on the Kelvin scale. 2700 to 3000 for residential use is equivalent to a standard incandescent bulb. Manufacturers are getting better about listing this information on CFL packaging, but the public needs to be educated. And who better, they (the public) ask, would know of such things than a designer . Thus my response to her presentation today.

Instead of turning off the public to such a simple and huge money and energy saving fact (in utility bills - both from energy use and heat output, and ultimately the cost of constant bulb replacement) she should be promoting CFLs. In addition to (still) promoting incandescent bulbs (which are ultimately being phased out as manufacturers halt production), Casey also suggests using LEDs. The only affordable (especially if you’re designing on a dime) LEDs do not have enough lumen output for use as task lighting, e.g., kitchen work areas, or reading. Quality (appealing color temperature with sufficient lumen output) LEDs are still EXTREMELY expensive.

Unfortunately LEDs are being marketed and sold to the general public, mostly already installed in fixtures, as "bright". To be sure, they are bright, but directionally fixed, a color temperature above 6000 (blue), and about as much light output as several candles, at 125 lumens per 3 watts. 100-watt incandescent, or 23-watt CFL bulbs put out 1750 lumens.

While some folks rail about the minuscule amount of mercury in CFLs (in the event of breakage), CFLs are now available with no mercury. Additionally, from an aesthetic point of view, CFLs are available in a dimmable format.

If Casey is going to put herself out there as a "designer", she needs to know the facts. Communicating one’s opinions and ideas on decorating is perfectly fine since design, for the most part, is subjective. However, when it comes to facts, one needs to be educated in the topic of which they speak, most especially to the general public. Regarding her quote that “Florescent (sic) bulbs can hurt the eyes and they keep you wired and wound up” may be subjective, but that is highly questionable.

How Casey could not be knowledgeable in this area is quite baffling since her bio indicates a “.....career at some of the top hospitality design firms, specializing in hotels, restaurants, bars and spas”, which is commercial hospitality design requiring extensive knowledge of lighting; aesthetically, functionally, and from a health, safety, and welfare standpoint. It would seem that Casey did not finish her interior design education and is not a licensed interior designer, as her bio would include such significant facts.