CFLs

over the period of several months I have gradually replaced all of the standard incandescent light bulbs in our house with energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). For those of you who do not yet use these bulbs in your homes, I urge you to read the following article and check out what using them instead of incandescent bulbs can do to help save money and preserve the environment:

How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You’re Looking At It.

there isn’t a whole lot that a single person can do for the environment. But replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs is one of those rare things. They’re not annoying like the oldschool flicker-on flourescent tubes were, and though they take a little longer than incandescents to warm up, the use of a single CFL can save you $50 over the life of the bulb, according to Project Porchlight. So using them will help your pocketbook as well as your ecosystem.

I don’t normally ask people to post things in their journal or anything like that, and I’m not going to here, but what I do recommend is that if you are one of those people who, like me, are a little late to the CFL ballgame, why not get a CFL for yourself and see if you like it? If not, then fair play to you. If you do like it, spread the word!

here are some quotes pulled directly from the article:

“Swirl bulbs don’t just work, they pay for themselves. They use so little power compared with old reliable bulbs, a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months. Screw one in, turn it on, and it’s not just lighting your living room, it’s dropping quarters in your pocket. The advantages pile up in a way to almost make one giddy. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.”

“What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.”

“Last year, conversations started in Wal-Mart around the potential of swirls to save customers money on utility bills. “Somebody asked, ‘What difference would it make if we changed the bulbs in the ceiling-fan display to CFLs?'” says Kerby. A typical Wal-Mart has 10 models of ceiling fans on display, each with four bulbs. Forty bulbs per store, 3,230 stores. “Someone went off and did the math,” says Kerby. “They told me we could save $6 million in electric bills by changing the incandescents to CFLs in more than 3,000 Wal-Marts. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know I was paying $6 million to light those fixtures. I said, that can’t be right, go back and do the math again.” The numbers came out the same the second time: savings of $6 million a year. “That, for me, was an ‘I got it’ moment.”

9 thoughts on “CFLs

  • March 17, 2007 at 2:44 am
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    preaching to the choir

    Our state utility board gives each household one of these lightbulbs for free each year in the hopes of converting more folks to use them. They are great. At IKEA, they have all shapes, sizes, including even outdoor/landscaping types. 🙂 we heart them 🙂

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  • March 17, 2007 at 3:16 am
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    If they can actually make a CFL that is not painfully blue, and comes anywhere close to natural sunlight, I’ll stop using incandescents. Until then, me and my flaming headaches induced by those horrifically blue awful bulbs will be making no changes, k thx. 50 bux a year is worth not having a blinding headache.

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    • March 18, 2007 at 5:05 am
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      Look for bulbs with a 3200K color temperature instead of 5000-6500 “daylight” bulbs. I get them at costco, sam’s club, home depot, lowes, etc.

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  • March 17, 2007 at 8:53 am
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    I like CFLs. As my incandescents burn out, I replace them with CFLs. It saves money.

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  • March 17, 2007 at 3:45 pm
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    I rent, but the landlord pays for all the utilities. He was smart and gave me a torchiere with two compact fluorescents and a bag with a half-dozen CF bulbs for my other lamps.

    The two 14W bulbs light my entire living room, which is huge, and I can’t tell any difference between their light and old-style bulbs. They don’t flicker and have a decent yellowish light. Sweet.

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    • March 17, 2007 at 4:43 pm
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      My boss is the one who is pushing the legislation in California to ban incandescents.

      Right after that was announced, Aussie land and the EU announced the same….

      Bandwagoners.

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      • March 17, 2007 at 9:24 pm
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        I made the switch 3 years ago and haven’t regretted it. I love them. Lately I’ve noticed they have even more options for them too, so they’ll fit in some of those weird shaped outlets, and the ones that are fancier shaped. While I like your boss’ suggestion, I think it’s lame to require it. Maybe give a mail in rebate, or a tax incentive or something, but require? Bog. What’s next down this slippery slope? Requiring that you drive a Prius? *scoff*

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  • March 19, 2007 at 12:25 am
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    Feh! I prefer using 200W halogen bulbs. Also, I use an individual gas-powered generator to run each one.

    Seriously though, those are cool and I’m aiming to switch over soon.

    –riney

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