A word about efficiency...

There has always been  some confusion about how much light you get from different types of light bulb and how much energy they consume.  The new breed of compact fluorescent (or low energy) lamps will use approximately 20% of the power it takes a normal light bulb to generate the same amount of light.  e.g. An 11 watt compact fluorescent is equivelent to a 60w light bulb. They also last up to eight time longer but normally they cost more as well.  Ther is no doubt at all that they save you money over the life of the lamp as well as reduced labour costs achieved through less lamp changes. A halogen bulb uses about 50% of the energy of a conventional bulb to generate the same amount of light.

A recent breakthough in technology has resulted in the appearence of very bright LED lights.  These are very small but relatively bright for their size and have a life often in excess of 50,000 hours.  There is now a vast range of lighting available with them in.