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INNOVATIONCHALLENGEA Story by Diana Maes
THE STORY• I moved into a new apartment in Chicago
in June. My new apartment is a beautiful,
large building built in 1902.
• I love everything about the place- the
enormous space, the porcelain tubs in
the bathrooms, large built-in mirrors, and
historic knickknacks such as an ice door
in the kitchen.
• However, with a building that is over 100
years old, there are many hiccups.
Creaky floors, sub-par water quality, and
high energy bills to maintain during the
summer months. Lots of improvement
projects that are needed!
THE STORY• One of my favorite things about my
apartment is the many large, custom
windows that allow for natural light
during the daytime.
• The amount of natural lighting in my unit
allows enough light so we don’t have to
turn any indoor lights during the daytime
• However, when the sun goes down, my roommates and I have to resort to the halogen floor lamp or the ceiling light fixture.
• Ceiling lights currently contain two 80W standard incandescent bulbs
THE CHALLENGE
• Invent a new, creative way for our front room to have low-cost, indoor lighting without
having to depend on halogen lamps or using the ceiling light
fixture.
• Keeping in mind this project would be part of my ‘home décor challenge’ and big craft project.
THE PROCESS
• I found a DIY lamp tutorial online and expanded this project to create a light installation for the front room.
• Going to the store, I collected all my materials: natural twine, glue, playground balls, and 9W CFL light bulbs.
THE PROCESS
• Each lamp is made from dipping twine into clear-drying glue, then wrapped around the playground ball until it holds its shape.
• Once each lamp has dried for 24 hours, the ball is then deflated and removed, leaving a twine “shell”
THE PROCESS
• Once all the twine balls have completely dried, I installed CFL bulbs into each one (connected to bulb cord).
• Each twine lamp is then hung from the ceiling at different heights.
THE RESULT• During the daytime,
the twine lights are unplugged, but still resonates a creative art installation that’s fun to look at!
THE RESULT• And at night, the
light fixture is plugged in to create the perfect amount of lighting at a low cost!
PROJECT COSTS• 5 – 40W Energy Star CFL Light Bulbs $15• Light cords $15• Playground Ball $ 4• Glue $18• Twine $32• Nails+misc hardware $ 5
• TOTAL: $89• Or $17.50 per lamp
PROJECT TIME• 2 days
ENERGY SAVINGS• 5 - 9W ES bulbs: $12.30 /yr• 2 – 80W bulbs: $45.62 /yr• 1 – 175 W halogen bulb: $55.73/year
• *.153 Chicago Electric Rate ($/kWh), Average daily use of 5 hrs/day
