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| My "new" mid-century light! |
Seriously, I knew the new walls (made in the U.S.A. drywall!) and ceiling needed painted before the light when up, but I was still surprised to see this go up almost as soon as that made in the U.S.A., VOC-free paint dried.
I was also pleasantly surprised about how well it lights the room. I was starting to worry. Now I feel better.
The wrinkle to this beauty is in the switch. I bought some of those motion sensor light switches. (You know the kind. If you leave the room and forget to turn off the light it does it for you after a couple of minutes.) Well, apparently, the ones I bought are specific to incandescent light bulbs.
Do you know what happens when you use an energy efficient light bulb with those babies? Well, let me tell you. Discos! Discos happen. The light was constantly flickering... even when it was turned off. It was enough to drive a girl mad! I was starting to doubt my 50ish year old light fixture could be on a motion sensor but it was the 2 year old light bulb I took out of the replaced fixture that was the problem.
Yes, the website clearly indicates that it is not a switch for CFL or LED light bulbs but the packaging doesn't make it as obvious. I was totally perplexed when we discovered the problem. An energy efficient light switch that only works with light bulbs that are energy hogs! The irony.
Oh, and I failed to mention the smell...
Those switches are going back to the store. And I'm back to the drawing board.
Have you ever had a problem like that? Please, tell me I'm not the only one... especially since this isn't my first time with a similar problem.
Peace,
Stacey
Great light! Looks just like the moon, awesome! You know I have had a similar problem when we lived in an older home. I installed all new light fixtures and soon after some of the lights where acting a bit strange. This really kind of freaked out my wife who is a little on the jumpy side, so I began to investigate. I found nothing... well, almost nothing. My problem was I had stripped the wires a bit to long causing the wires to short out if someone walked in the room. This may not be a resolution for your light but if your fixture is older there may be a short in the socket? Just a thought... Double check all your wires and make sure the wires are insulated all the way to the point of connection. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips, Nathan. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only wife who gets "jumpy" when things involving electricity are acting a bit odd. Luckily, my kitchen problem was solved easily. As soon as we (and by "we" I mean my husband and father-in-law) reinstalled the regular light switch the light fixture "miraculously" worked perfectly. In the meantime, the matching fixture has also been installed in my dining room. I bought a dimmer (and bulb) specific for CFL and LED bulbs and everything appears to function as advertised. Yeah!
DeleteOh, and we totally call this light "the moon" now! Since the second one has been installed in the dining room now, we must live on Mars, right?
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