Light Bulbs in the Pony Room

[Aurora]

DH and I were discussing replacing light bulbs, and the one in the pony room came up because it's the really old style that takes forever to turn on and "warm up," and he wants to replace all the lights in the house with LED's. Which made me wonder if there was a sort of light bulb that would be better in the Pony Room. Bright light is nice, so I can see details and read packages, but if LED's will deteriorate the plastic faster than another kind, then I would like to avoid it.
I have light curtains on the windows, but not thick ones, so I'm obviously not being as careful as other collectors, but I would like to at least give the bulb some consideration.

Has anyone looked into the science of this? Or just have some theories? I'm not looking at how efficient the bulb is, just possible dangers of having certain bulbs with the collective.

The light isn't on all the time, either- I MIGHT turn it on once a day, but usually I have it on for about 4 hours a week. (Which is sad, I'm going to have to spend a lot more time in there!)

Thank you for your help!

[FantasticFirefly]

LED's would be safest. They don't give off UV, or heat.

All light is damaging though, but you cannot enjoy your collection in darkness. One I would never use for a pony room is tubes or CFL's (it's my own paranoia, plus I get headaches from the flickering. changing the CFL's at my parent's the bases of the bulbs that were once a white plastic turn an ugly shade of nicotine yellow and bacame rough and brittle feeling (nobody smokes in their house!) they give off UV spectrum. I know the plastic part gets full on light and heat, but still scares me away from ever using them). And absolutely no halogens they can put out a gross amount of heat as well as UV.

http://finerframes.com/in-the-right-light-rules-for-lighting-artwork/

You can also Velcro curtains to your cases and remove them easily when looking at those ponies or showing off the room. another thing I did in my room was adding UV/heat blocking film to the window. (I used two layers, a room darkening roller blind and then a drape).

You have the right idea though. Lights while in use, and when I'm not in the room it's totally dark.

[Sugarberry]

LED white or natural light is what I use.  It's bright, pleasant on the eyes, and as Firefly mentioned, no heat and no UV.

[FantasticFirefly]

LED white or natural light is what I use.  It's bright, pleasant on the eyes, and as Firefly mentioned, no heat and no UV.

LED's are awesome. Good energy savings too. Makes up for cooling expenses (AC) on the collection room.

But to clarify on natural light, that unfortunately is the most damaging. I went to great pains to block my pony-room window to prevent any damage. (X2 UV/heat film, darkening roller blind with a drape for blocking/looks).

[kasin]

I use LED in my whole house and have the collection lit with them. As said above they don't produce heat or UV and don't contain things like mercury. Added bonus they can be extra thin and there are cheap options to spotlight within cabinets etc. I know Ikea has a number of options for that sort of thing. They also use alot less energy and don't need to be changed much if ever which is nice.

Love em, highly recommend!

Oh! For non pony room, these are not affected by temperature if you use them outside and you can get ones that will work on a dimmer switch. We converted our home about 8 years ago and not one negative thing to say, haven't had to replace any in that time either!

[Aurora]

This is all really good to hear- I love the LCD lights we have in other places in the house- we are replacing them as the bulbs burn out, but those curly bulbs last forever!
The one in the Pony Room is the only one with a delay, so I do want to switch it. Looks like LCD is the way to go! Thank you, Tree-Hugging Light-Loving Ponies!

[FantasticFirefly]

I use LED in my whole house and have the collection lit with them. As said above they don't produce heat or UV and don't contain things like mercury. Added bonus they can be extra thin and there are cheap options to spotlight within cabinets etc. I know Ikea has a number of options for that sort of thing. They also use alot less energy and don't need to be changed much if ever which is nice.

Love em, highly recommend!

Oh! For non pony room, these are not affected by temperature if you use them outside and you can get ones that will work on a dimmer switch. We converted our home about 8 years ago and not one negative thing to say, haven't had to replace any in that time either!

Yes.... so much yes.... and less CFL's being improperly disposed of in household trash. (people are supposed to put them in a container and bring them to their correct disposal facility). We get dirty power and the LED's are the first things to last. OH tried CFL before I moved in and they burnt out quickly. they cost more then traditional bulbs and didn't last as long as them here. before being a full convert to LED (the older models could be quite hash/dim. but pony safer). Elsewhere in the house I stockpiled incandescent worried about them being phased out. We've been transitioning everything to LED though as we were happy with the test bulbs we bought. and no headaches which is awesome.

LED Cabinetry lighting I second checking an ikea. But also "Lee Valley Tool" if you have them stateside.

[BryteStar]

One I would never use for a pony room is tubes or CFL's (it's my own paranoia, plus I get headaches from the flickering. changing the CFL's at my parent's the bases of the bulbs that were once a white plastic turn an ugly shade of nicotine yellow and bacame rough and brittle feeling (nobody smokes in their house!) they give off UV spectrum.

Oh yikes, I didn't know this! I'll have to move my (small, at least) Pony collection to another room out of the CFL's that are on very nearly 24/7. :/ My grandmother has very bad eyesight and INSISTS that the CFL's are the best...I've been trying to get her to switch to LED, so maybe this will convince her...she likes my pony collection too.

[FantasticFirefly]

Oh yikes, I didn't know this! I'll have to move my (small, at least) Pony collection to another room out of the CFL's that are on very nearly 24/7. :/ My grandmother has very bad eyesight and INSISTS that the CFL's are the best...I've been trying to get her to switch to LED, so maybe this will convince her...she likes my pony collection too.

I'm sure for her eyes and being able to read they are the best for her so far. ask around for people who may have similar issues which LED they'd recommend to try. Remember though ALL light is damaging, LED is the least damaging. 24/7 light is something to avoid regardless of the type used. So adding closed solid doors, or a light blocking curtain in front of your pony case so it's dark inside until you want to see them could be a compromise that protects your collection.

[Sugarberry]

I should clarify on the natural light-     LED bulbs come in a couple different forms (soft white, blue, and a replica of natural light- which isn't quite like regular UV), and my setup in the bedroom is probably quite a bit different than many others.  I use a bunch of different things to help.  Please forgive the mess, with fair I just haven't been able to finish all the redesigning I had in progress and it's underway again.  Hoping to have a local meet in December.

Here goes-
This room was designed for the pony collection.
The windows all have either uv-blocking film blinds (sorry about the dark lighting- it's easier to see the effect of the blinds if you look at the light hitting the window frame sides behind the curtains):
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 or this:
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This film is sold in rolls at Menards/Home Depot for $20.00 a roll.  It takes 2 rolls to cover a window and looks like this when finished:
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My mother made the curtains.   Ponies directly adjacent to the windows also have 'backer boards' between them and the window.  These are acid free boards for comic books, and provide a little extra protection from scattered bits.

For light bulbs, the size of the room means I have to use track lighting.  I have ...10? 12? can-lights to illuminate several rows of shelving and cabinets.  I don't use any of the lights within the cabinets themselves.  Here's an example of one of the rows:
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And I chose these can-light bulbs for the lighting:
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I've been working on sheeting the fronts of some of the cabinets with plastic covers to lower the dust, but that also helps provide another light filter.  Wear and tear happens, but gotta be able to enjoy it too.    Hope that helps you. 

[BryteStar]

This is making me so nervous haha...there are windows in literally every room in my house and like I said - it's pretty much rigged for maximum lighting because of a low-vision family member (So I can't just cover up windows, though I do like those pattern panels!)...but I don't want my ponies in a closed up box where I can't see them either. :/ I hope they'll be okay until I can get some kind of shelving unit to help shield them.

[Aurora]

This is making me so nervous haha...there are windows in literally every room in my house and like I said - it's pretty much rigged for maximum lighting because of a low-vision family member (So I can't just cover up windows, though I do like those pattern panels!)...but I don't want my ponies in a closed up box where I can't see them either. :/ I hope they'll be okay until I can get some kind of shelving unit to help shield them.

It's a tough line to walk- being careful with your collection to protect what you love, not to mention the monetary investment, while enjoying it. I have tried to look at it from a  sane and rational viewpoint, that I can do what I can do, but time will take it's toll on everything. I could keep my ponies in a safe, but what fun would that be?

Sugarberry- that is so cool! Thank you for taking the time to explain what you have! My husband works at Lowe's, so I'm going to see if they have that product- either one of them, actually. It would be amazing if there was a castle one!  My pony room is not that big, but it still has two windows.
I have some ponies up on the curtain rod of the windows, and I've always just sort of known they would get faded- the boxes will, only the MIP fit there. This gives me a great idea for what to do instead- it won't lose any space, and the MIB G3's look great there!

My husband has gotten used to me asking the pony community for advice before I ask him, by the way. I'm pretty sure he said the same things about LED lights, but clearly I'm not going to listen to him! Thank you!