Pierce, Medrano, Geller for Council - Clayton Pioneer

Page 6 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com November 7, 2008
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Is the LED light bulb the new king
of the green lighting choices?
Perhaps the ultimate “alternative to the
alternative,” the LED (light-emitting diode)
light bulb may well dethrone the
compact fluorescent (CFL)
as king of the green
lighting choices. But it
has a way to go yet in
terms of both
affordability and
brightness.
LEDs have been
used widely for decades
in other applications—
forming the numbers on
digital clocks, lighting up watches
and cell phones and, when used in clusters,
illuminating traffic lights and forming
the images on large outdoor television
screens. Until recently LED lighting has
been impractical to use for
most other everyday applications
because it is built
around costly semiconductor
technology. But the price of
semiconductor materials has
dropped in recent years,
opening the door for
some exciting
changes in energyefficient,
green
friendly lighting
options.
LED bulbs are
lit solely by the
movement of
electrons. Unlike
incandescents,
they have no filament
that will
burn out; and unlike CFLs, they contain no
mercury or other toxic substances.
Proponents say LEDs can last some 60
times longer than incandescents and 10
times longer than CFLs. And unlike incandescents,
which generate a lot of waste
heat, LEDs don’t get especially hot and use
a much higher percentage of electricity for
directly generating light.
But as with early CFLs, LED bulbs are
not known for their brightness. According
to a January 2008 article in Science Daily,
“Because of their structure and material,
much of the light in standard LEDs
becomes trapped, reducing the brightness
of the light and making them unsuitable as
the main lighting source in the home.” LED
makers get around this problem in some
applications by clustering many small LED
bulbs together in a single casing to concentrate
the light emitted. But such LED
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“bulbs” still don’t generate light much
brighter than a 35-watt incandescent, much
too little light for reading or other focused
tasks.
If LEDs are going to replace incandescents
and CFLs, manufacturers will
have to make them brighter.
EarthLED is lighting the way
with its EvoLux and ZetaLux
bulbs, which use multiple
LEDs in a single casing to
generate light. The
EvoLux delivers
light equal to that
of a 100-watt
incandescent, the
company says. But
the $80/bulb price
tag may be tough
to swallow. The
ZetaLux, which
retails for
$49.99, delivers
light equivalent to
a 50- or 60-watt
incandescent, will last
50,000 hours and costs
only $2 a year to run.
Other bulb makers are
working on similar designs for
high-powered LED bulbs, hoping
that an increase in availability will help
spur demand,
which will in turn
lower prices
across the board.
Until then, consumers
can find
LED bulbs suitable
for secondary and mood lighting purposes
in many hardware and big box stores.
C. Crane’s 1.3-watt LED bulb, for example,
generates as much light as a 15-watt incandescent
bulb. Check your local hardware
store for other options, as well as online
vendors such as Best Home LED Lighting,
Bulbster, SuperBrightLEDs.com and We
Love LEDs.
Contacts and Sources:
How Stuff Works, www.howstuffworks.com/led.htm;
EarthLED, www.earthled.com;
Best Home LED Lighting,
www.besthomeledlighting.com;
Bulbster, www.bulbster.com;
SuperBrightLEDs.com, www.superbrightleds.com;
We Love LEDs, www.weloveleds.com.
LED BULBS HAVE NOT BEEN KNOWN FOR THEIR BRIGHTNESS,
but manufacturers are working hard to change that.
Newer bulbs can deliver the equivalent of 100-watt
and 50-60 watt incandescents, respectively.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The
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past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
resources to improving the quality of life
within the communities we serve.
Comparative market
analysis an effective tool
A comparative market analysis,
or CMA, is a real estate
agent’s evaluation, based on
local listing and sales data, to
determine the probable sale
price of a property in the current
market.
Sellers can use a CMA to
help determine a list price.
Buyers can use it to help them
decide what to offer on a listing
they want to buy.
The accuracy of the analysis
will depend in part on the quality
of the data. The listings used
for comparison should ideally
be located in the neighborhood
and they should be as similar as
possible to the subject property.
To get a complete picture of
your local marketplace, the
CMA should include information
about currently available
comparable listings, pending
sales, sales that occurred within
the last six months, as well as
information about listings that
did not sell during the listing
period. These are called expired
listings.
For sellers, the currently
available listings would be your
competition if your home were
on the market. How you price
your home relative to the competition
is critical to the success
for your marketing efforts. If
possible, visit Sunday open
houses to see how your home
compares before you select a list
price.
Pending sale listings in your
neighborhood represent the
most recent sales activity. Try to
find our as much about these
listings as possible. But beware
of the neighborhood grapevine.
A combination of wishful
thinking and enthusiasm can
result in a rumor that a listing
sold for an inflated price.
Even before you have the
closing price, inferences can be
made about the selling price
based on the market history of
the listing. Find out how long it
took to find a buyer for the
home. Were there multiple
offers? Or did the listing take
months to sell? Did the sellers
have to lower their price to
attract a buyer? This sort of
information tells you a lot about
current market conditions.
Expired listings usually indicate
a high water mark. The
most common reason why an
expired listing didn’t sell during
the listing period is that it was
priced too high for the market.
Carefully analyze the information
about listings that have
sold and closed. Closing occurs
when title to the property transfers
for the sellers to the buyers.
These are the sales that actually
went through. This sales data is
the most reliable indicator of
what the market will bear, pricewise.
Market value is determined
by what a willing and able
buyer will pay.
LYNNE FRENCH
REAL ESTATE
Typically, the sales should
have occurred no longer than
six months ago. However, in a
market that is changing rapidly,
six months may be too long.
When home prices are moving
up or down quickly, it’s wise to
shorten the timeframe. Try
three months.
Estimating a probable sale
price based on a CMA involves
a certain amount of subjectivity.
Accurately predicting a sale
price is easiest in neighborhoods
of tract housing, where
all houses are pretty much the
same. It’s more difficult in
neighborhoods where there’s a
lot of variability in home size,
style and condition.
A real estate agent’s knowledge
of the local market can
affect the accuracy of a CMA,
particularly in a neighborhood
with a lot of variability in the
housing stock. Unless the agent
has actually seen the comparable
listings, he or she may not
draw the correct conclusions.
Lynne French is the broker/owner of
Windermere Lynne French & Associates
and a Clayton resident. For any real
estate needs or questions, contact her at
672-8787, Lynne@LynneFrench.com or
stop in at 6200 Center St. in Clayton.
Clayton mom juggles family,
career, and chronic illness
JEANNA ROSS
Clayton Pioneer
The word “arthritis” may
conjure images of great-grandmothers
massaging their careworn
hands. However, rheumatoid
arthritis can strike
any age.
For Kathy Bergstad
of Clayton, that age was
4.
“I woke up in the
morning with ‘trigger’
fingers, where my fingers
would get stuck
shut,” she said. “My
mom took me to an
orthopedic surgeon.
The synovial tissue,
which lubricates the
joints, was murky, so
they did a biopsy.”
After a diagnosis of
juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis, Bergstad began
a treatment cycle of 26
baby aspirin a day. “I’ve
had a great medical
team and family support
system. I’m not
where I am because I did it on
my own – I had a lot of help.”
The disease was never an
inhibiting factor in Bergstad’s
childhood. Her schools accommodated
her disability by
arranging notetakers, extra
books and multiple lockers. Her
PE class was physical therapy.
However, the problems
inherent in growing up with a
chronic disease aren’t just about
the discomfort. “I don’t think of
pain like other people do. Aches
and pains are just life,” she said.
“What I notice is fatigue. People
don’t realize how much energy it
takes to be in pain. Going to the
grocery store, cooking dinner or
playing a game become a
process. The fatigue is the pain.”
Her three daughters – 9year-olds
Alyssa and Karma and
6-year-old Amanda – are the
focus of Bergstad’s adult worries.
Bergstad, who works fulltime
as an X-ray technician,
notes that health insurance is
always a concern.
“My biggest fear in life is
that I never want my children to
have to take care of me. I don’t
want to be a burden,” she said.
Her philosophy is simple.
“You just do it,” said Bergstad,
KATHY BERGSTAD
who was a single mom until her
remarriage in 2006. “You can’t
fall apart, so you don’t.”
For new husband Steve,
Kathy’s disease was never a factor.
“We were next-door neighbors,
so I knew about the arthritis
before we began our relationship,”
he said. “But the arthritis
is not who she is.”
Coping with the day-to-day
realities requires a degree of subterfuge
for Steve. “I help out in
things she can’t do, but it’s important
to help without being asked.
She has great pride even though
her body limits her,” he said. “I
make it easier without her knowing
that I’m doing it. Otherwise,
our life seems totally normal.”
In an effort to control her
symptoms, Bergstad has tried
every arthritis treatment –
including gold injections, Aleve,
and immunosuppressant and
anti-inflammatory drugs. She
has just completed her 22nd
orthopedic surgery: a total hip
replacement. All the treatments
slow the process that leads to
debilitating joint damage.
It was not, however, until
her newest treatment – a
Genentech BioOncology product
called Rituxan – that
Bergstad has felt relief.
“People take for granted
being able to take a walk
or ride a bike, which can
be debilitating to people
with arthritis,” she said.
“Now, it’s possible to lead
a normal life.”
The Rituxan treatments
are tailored to fit
her busy lifestyle, with
two, 1,000 mg IV drips
every six months that can
take up to 10 hours to
complete.
In the beginning, her
body rejected the invasive
drug. Over the past two
years, the drug has built
up in her system, making
the transition process
easier to bear. “Now,”
Bergstad said, “the results
are almost immediate.”
“She’s quite a bit better on
the Rituxan,” Steve added.
“About a month before her next
one, it will start to tail off. She’ll
become stiffer. She will groan in
her sleep. However, after the
dose, it’s better for months.”
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs
when the body’s immune system
attacks the joints. According to
Genentech, B-cells are believed
to play an important role in
causing this attack. Rituxan is
the first RA treatment that targets
B-cells. It is also used for
the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma.
There is no cure for rheumatoid
arthritis and Bergstad’s body
has always grown immune to
treatments in the past. However,
she eagerly awaits the development
of biological drugs like
Rituxan to help her continue to
live her life to the fullest.
For more information on
Genentech’s research, visit
www.gene.com.