Lightbulbs

[cml]

Ive done some more research and reading, and found another bad alternative ^^.

Halogen lights are now made in bulb form with standard fittings well, to use in households. These are safe from a health point of view, as they contain no harmful gas, BUT my quick research show that these are the cause of several fire hazards because they get incredibly hot.
As I want a light that can be left on, these arent a good alternative either.
From what I read, they also have problems with sometimes emitting too much UV light, unless properly covered.

[cml]

I know that I have been posting in this thread alot, but to me its a very important topic, and having done more research, as well as buying, trying and comparing some alternatives, I have a few things to share/add. This post turned out to be a tad long, sorry for that, but I think it might help provide a few insights to the different options available today .

I have bought regular, low energy, LED and halogen bulbs.
Btw, Ive found out that regular bulbs are still sold for OUTDOOR use, because the new energy saving options dont work well in the cold, and are thus still available at least for a time.
Ive also tested the different options and come to a few conclusions.

* LED lights flicker, and are thus not a good option. Ive done a few tests, and actually manage to catch it on film. Unless the technology is vastly improved, which with time it might, these arent a good option for either you or your pet. There are also report of eye damage because of the blue light LEDs emit, its high frequency and high power light.

* As regular bulbs are only sold for outdoor use, and higher wattage are banned, the brightest light Ive been able to get is 60W. These are not bright enough, and while the light was "cosy" its too dark even with 4 bulbs lighting the parrot room. Hence I cant use only these.
Also, these use a lot of energy and arent good for a sustainable future.

* Halogen lamps get hot, but from very very limited testing, not much hotter than regular bulbs. If they are UV-shielded, which almost all lamps are, these could be a good alternative, but I am uncomfortable with leaving these on when not at home, and am thus not using them at the moment.

* Low energy lights, or CFLs, are dangerous if they break while hot. This goes for both human and pet alike. They do however provide the best light in my opinion. They dont flicker, and are plenty bright.

So what to do? This is a jungle, and to be perfectly honest there isnt a complete solution, which Ive written before. I hadnt considered this before, so that the topic popped up was very good in my opinion, as I believe there are more people out there that havnt considered everything.

It comes down to a one thing; you need to decide whats important to you.

I have personally decided to do this:

* CFLs in all ceiling lamps as these are only likely to break if handled badly when changed, and if an accident happens in such a situation, they are cold and not dangerous (but you still need to clean locally). These lamps are there because they provide the best light and I dont want my parrots to live in a too dark environment.

* Regular bulbs in all floor standing and decorative lights, as these can be knocked over and possible break. Ive changed all these lights over the last couple of days after Marie's comment that someone else might break them unintentionally (in her case kids throwing stuff I believe ^^). As these are high risk lamps, a safe option here is to me essential.

* I use LEDs in a couple of spot lights, but these are in areas in which the parrots do not hang out in.

To me this constitutes as the best risk management and option atm. The parrots have a flicker free and bright enough light situation, and lights that could potentially be knocked over are of a safe type, in my case regular bulbs. I am not going to reccommend anyone to change their lights in any particular way, but I want to encourage you all to think it through, and decide whats best for you and your situation!