Torchiere lamps, despite sounding French,
are really just floor lamps with a solid bowl directing the light upwards for classy indirect or ambient lighting. Closely related are
floor lamps with a translucent bowl directing light both up and down. They’re popular for general lighting, especially in rooms with no ceiling fixtures, or to provide softer, indirect lighting. Having floor lamps is generally regarded as an official sign of adulthood.
But watch out: The solid bowl in floor lamps can hide foreign objects that might fall into them, and the concentrated halogen or incandescent heat can easily start fires. That’s why the higher-wattage halogen lamps (330 to 500 watts) have been banned from new sales. Many still exist, though (commonly up to 175 watts), as do incandescent models (up to 150 watts). Alternatively,
compact fluorescent light bulbs can save energy and reduce fire hazards.
Halogen fixtures can’t be retrofitted, so one way to integrate energy-efficient lighting is to get a new fixture that includes compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Fixtures are available with equivalent light output up to 500 watts but that only use about 100 watts to produce that light. Some are dimmable, and some use multiple lamps with three-way switching. Spiffy, right?