I've had that issue with the fume dissipator, I guess it's like a cool precision tool... or something.. lol also I was thinking of energetic glowstone. I really REALLY love that stuff....
From what I've read, the fume dissipator in the earlier versions of TT was a little buggy. In the latest builds, it is apparently much better. It can also be removed with water or sand since it is one of those "invisible" light blocks similar to wrath lamps.
I played around with the energized glowstone, and have thought about using it in a mad scientist lab of sorts. Little "pulses" of glowstone come up from a hole in the floor and light up the room. Kinda like tesla coils. Connect it to a random number generator and have different pulse lengths and spaces between pulses. Have 2 or 3 of these in your room for a neat kenetic display.