I Heard About Those Efficient Light Bulbs

I'm sure you've heard friends or family talk about how much money you can save on installing high efficiency light bulbs otherwise known as compact fluorescents (CFLs), but does it really save energy and money on your electric bill?

I thought I'd do the research for you and give you a taste to make your decision.

As the CFLs story goes for us...

When my husband piled up those old (which were really new since we had just moved into the house) incandescent bulbs into a box 6 months ago, I had a certain bit of anxiety. I thought to myself, "why don't we wait until they go out and replace them one by one" and "what are we going to do with all those perfectly good light bulbs. We can't just throw them away-that would be wasteful" and "maybe I'll just keep them up high in the pantry until we need a light bulb and we are in a pinch and out of the high efficiency ones." Well, turns out there they still sit. They are on the top shelf of the pantry and when I die my children will find them there 70 years from now. (I'll 103 by then, by the way.) At least it seems like a good compromise I made with my own subconscious- grew-up-with-sortof-pack-rat-really-thrifty-father.

My Father would think we were insane if we told him we replaced all those light bulbs that were perfectly good. First, who cares that much about the environment if you are not seeing the money savings in your hand right now? Second, why would you replace good light bulbs? I better keep that box out of his sight when he comes to visit or he might try to take it back to the farm with him!

The facts.

• Compact fluorescents (that's the name for high efficiency bulbs, remember?) use four times less energy, and last eight times longer (8,000h instead of 1,000h) than incandescent light bulbs.
• The compact fluorescent will be more expensive to buy, but you will need to replace it eight times less often
• CFLs at the end of their operating life should be disposed of properly so the mercury inside can be recycled.
• "A 22 watt CFL replaces a traditional 100 watt incandescent. Although initially more expensive to buy, they’ll last way longer than the old bulbs."
  
• CFLs use about 66 percent less energy while producing the same Photo sensors measure the amount of daylight amount of illumination as incandescent bulbs.
• In the average residence, lighting consumes about 10-15% of the energy used.
  
• On average, homeowners spend $100 per year on lighting with incandescent light bulbs.
• A little known or thought about fact is that incandescent light bulbs also produce excess heat in your home. 95% of the energy consumed by these bulbs is turned into heat. So, the question is how much more does your A/C kick on to balance that excess heat?
  
• You could do a simple calculation of just multiplying your average bill by 10% to see what percentage is used for electricity. Then take that number and multiply it by 1/3. That should tell you your monthly utility bill savings for installing CFLs.
  

I found a lot of great information on Greenpeace's website if you want to take a closer look.

I'm happy my husband made the switch for us even though I still glance at that box from time to time in my pantry. Now that you know the facts maybe you'll find an old box to store your light bulbs in your pantry.

Brought to you by Greener Grass Notes.