Energy Efficient Lighting

The U.S. devotes 25% of its total energy consumption to lighting, and 10% of the average residential energy bill goes toward illumination. However, the standard incandescent light bulb is the acme of waste. Only 10% of the electricity it consumes is used to create light. The remaining 90% is converted to heat, meaning that out of every dollar spent to light our homes ninety cents are wasted!

Although halogen bulbs offer some energy savings and infant technologies like LED lights hold promise, the best alternative is the compact fluorescent light bulb, a technology that requires far less electricity than any other to produce an equivalent amount of illumination.

Money Savings

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have two parts: a gas-filled glass tube and a ballast. When electricity flows through the gas inside the tube, it glows with ultra-violet light. This UV light hits the white phosphor coating on the surface of the tube and produces visible light. The ballast regulates the flow of electricity, maximizing the UV rays that cause the bulb's coating to glow.

This process is vastly more efficient. Although they cost more, the payback is very good over the life of a typical 18 watt CFL replacing a 75 watt incandescent, you'd earn about $35 after you paid back the bulb cost because you only use about a quarter as much electricity.

This chart compares the costs of a single 75¢ 75-watt incandescent bulb to a $20.00 18-watt CFL and illustrates how these savings add up:

Environmental Benefits

The average CFL lasts 10,000 hours, more than 13 times longer than incandescents. This reduces natural resource consumption and keeps more bulbs out of landfills. Americans throw away over a billion incandescents each year. CFLs could reduce this number to 77 million.

CFLs prevent pollution. Over their lifetimes, they'll prevent the release of between 1,000 and 2,000 lbs of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants; the production of approximately 25 milligrams of deadly plutonium from nuclear plants; or the use of 1.25 barrels of oil.

Choosing the Right Light

Before you start shopping for CFLs, consider which fixtures you'll want them for. Here are some tips to help:

Any fixture used at least 2-3 hours per day, like a living room lamp, is a good candidate for a CFL. But a closet light that only gets turned on once or twice a day for just a few moments isn't because of the decades it would take to realize any savings.

Fixtures that use high wattage incandescent bulbs are good choices. Even if these fixtures aren't used for extended periods, their high power consumption means savings can be realized quickly.

The higher your electric rates, the more fixtures it makes sense to outfit with CFLs. However, the environmental impact per kilowatt used remains the same regardless of how much you pay for power so using as many CFLs as you can afford makes sense from an environmental perspective.

Look for fixtures you wish could be brighter but are only safety-rated for certain maximum wattages because of concerns about overheating. These are good places for CFLs because they operate at far lower temperatures.

Frequently turning CFLs on and off can shorten their life span. For this reason, you may not want to use them in places that see a lot of short visits, like bathrooms.

Measure your fixtures before you shop to make sure the bulb you choose will fit. CFLs come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and types. There are decorative globes and capsules, tubes, bulbs shaped like incandescents, and even full-spectrum CFLs. Also available are replacement fixtures like desk lamps, torchieres, and task lights designed to use only CFL bulbs. In short, options abound which makes finding the right CFL for almost any application easier than ever.

In Summary

Using CFLs will lower your electric utility bills and lessen your impact on the environment. It's a perfect win-win situation and proof that simple choices make a difference. Making this choice today will ensure a healthier future tomorrow.