Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

[cgoodwin]

I read recently that if every home in America changes one light bulb to a energy efficient bulb, it would be the equivelent of removing 1,000,000 cars from the road where carbon levels are concerned.... Kind of scary.

About 90 percent of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs is lost as heat.

15-watt compact fluorescent bulb yields the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. Compact flourescent bulbs last about 10,000 hours -- 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Suppose your living room table lamp is turned on for 1,000 hours a year, and your local electric utility charges eight cents per kilowatt hour. A 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb may cost you $20, considerably more than the dollar or so that you'd spend for a standard 60-watt bulb that provides the same amount of light. But the compact fluorescent bulb should last for 10 years, while the standard bulb likely will be replaced every year. The compact fluorescent bulb costs about $1.20 a year to operate; the standard bulb costs $4.80. For a one-time initial extra payment of $19.00, you can receive $4.60 in savings each year ($3.60 electricity cost and $1.00 bulb cost) for 10 years.

Also consider the power used to remove the heat created by incandescent bulbs and the power and resources used in their production....

[cgoodwin]

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road. CFLs provide high-quality light, smart technology, and design, requiring less energy while lasting longer than typical incandescent bulbs.
Earning the ENERGY STAR

• ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a 100-watt incandescent with a 32-watt CFL can save you at least $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.
• ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs operate at less than 100F, they are also safer than typical halogen bulbs, which are frequently used in floor lamps or torchieres and burn at 1,000F. Due to their high heat output, halogens can cause burns and fires. CFLs are cool to the touch.

Remember, saving energy prevents pollution.
ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs provide the same amount of light (lumens) as standard incandescent bulbs, but have lower wattage ratings. This means they use less energy and cause less pollution. If you are unfamiliar with the best CFL wattage to use for your lighting needs, always refer to the lumen, or light output on the product packaging as your guide. For example, most 60-watt incandescents provide around 800 lumens, so look for ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs that provide 800 lumens or more.

[cgoodwin]

I just changed all the bulbs in my house to energy efficient florescents, they produce a little less light for the wattage and there is a hesitation when you flip the switch. They also last 9 years and use about 25% of the power. I got mine at Safeway for $3.45 for two 75w bulbs.

[Jeff47]

Originally Posted by cgoodwin

I just changed all the bulbs in my house to energy efficient florescents, they produce a little less light for the wattage and there is a hesitation when you flip the switch. They also last 9 years and use about 25% of the power. I got mine at Safeway for $3.45 for two 75w bulbs.

Just a note, if one of your family starts to have a seizure in a few months, especially kids take care of them and then remove the florescents. They are 60hz you know.

[Billsbet]

The Home Depot near my brother in laws house in San Diego was selling boxes of 12 C.F. light bulbs for $12. I went to the Home Depot near my house but could not find any. I asked a sales person and they looked at me like I had a third eye, they had 2 packs for $12. Called my brother in law and had him pick me up 3 boxes of bulbs.

I put them in all the light fixtures in the house that night (36 can lights in the ceiling). Not quite the same amount of light and seemed to make things seem a little yellow. I picked up some bulbs that are supposed to be daylight quality for the bathroom so my wife would not complain about putting the wrong shades of make-up on.

My wife later told me she found some C.F. bulbs at Wal-Mart for a buck a piece. I hate going into Wal-Mart so she picked up a few for me.

It's nice knowing the bulbs are using a fraction of the power used by the normal bulbs but what kills my power conservation is running the AC. Living in HOT So. Cal. there are days when both AC's are running (one for upstairs and one for downstairs) and we have the thermostates set at 80 degrees. At least I don't have a swimming pool, several people I know had $1400 electricity bills during the summer from the pool pumps and AC. I almost choked when my summer bills were scratching $400.

Bill

[sustainable ways]

At least you'll be using less energy on from your ac unit since it doesn't need to remove the excess heat produced by the old incandescent lights. For future reference they make r30 (reflector) cfl's for use in recessed cans that are better at aiming the light down. But good on you for changing your bulbs.
I'm an electrical apprentice in Vermont that is toying with the idea of starting an energy consulting business that focuses on lighting
Mark

[BeanJuice]

I'm about 85-90% florescent. Can't say that I ever noticed much utility bill difference but am working on the assumption that every little bit helps. Don't expect them to last the advertised 10 years either. After about 3-5 years, they start to get pretty burnt and don't produce their intended/original amount of light. Try to use the 10 year guarantee and wound up paying shipping both ways, to be told "it still works". Yeah, 'bout like a candle. Anyway, I believe the 1,000,000(800,000) car is an exaggeration/false assumption. When I went to energy saving lights, it didn't reduce my green footprint much if any. My power comes from a hydro electric plant. The 1,000,000 calculation doesn't consider the amount of the population that has power derived from nuc, hydro, wind or solar.

Sometimes problems arise from the conversion as well. The FAA spent big bucks changing over our entire Air Traffic Control Tower shaft to florescent. The lack of heat that the incandescent bulbs provided has lead to a lot more condensation(mold, mildew, corrosion, etc..Water dripping down and even elevator problems.) so we had to install heaters. Money/energy savings down the crapper.

"About 90 percent of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs is lost as heat." hum, gotta question that statement. a 100W bulb puts out 10W light and 90W heat? Maybe, but I'll have to check the math.

"Also consider the power used to remove the heat created by incandescent bulbs and the power and resources used in their production..." This one also. Sometimes of the year the heat is welcome and beneficial. And, a lot more resources are used to produce a florescent replacement for an incandescent fixture than just a simple incandescent lightbulb.

[Brad]

Bit of an old thread, but new topics coming off it, like plans to eventually phase out incandescents, anyone heard of that?

Also, I just got done changing out the outdoors lightbulbs to CFLs on this one mansion like house I work on. He only has 65 bulbs outside! Fortunately, Lowes had them for like $1.62 a piece .



Even more efficient lighting would be this-- http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

[rkpatt]

FWIW- Walmart has started selling an LED light bulbs .

[Dire Wolf]

Our CFL's last about 6 months at most. The power here is awful, it surges several times a day. We have UPS's all over the place to save our PC's. I kinda wish we hadn't switched, it wasn't worth the $5 a month savings.