See the Light with CFLs

By Nathan Kaufman

Lighting is one of the least expensive ways to go green in your home and business.  It also generally takes the least amount of work, just unscrewing the old bulb and screwing in the new one.  Standard incandescent light bulbs for home lighting are 60 watt bulbs and cost $.50-1.00 each.  By spending a couple dollars more, you can save 75% on your lighting energy expenses by using compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs.

75% is a huge reduction, but that is the average ratio of energy savings when switching from incandescent light bulbs to CFLs.  If you keep a brighter home, 100 watt incandescents translate to a 25 watt CFL and so on.  Another energy saving fact, calculated by ENERGY STAR, states “if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.”  Think of all the energy (and yes, read that as money) we would save!

So, CFLs do have their fair share of myths and controversies surrounding them.  One of the biggest legitimate concerns is the mercury in CFLs, which although a very small amount, is important for the functionality of the CFL.  CFLs contain about 5 milligrams of mercury, which in comparison, is less than that of old mercury thermometers.  However, they do require special care when being disposed of.  Mercury disposal guidelines vary by city, so check with your local officials when yours burns out.  Another common complaint is the color of the light emitted by CFLs.  Like their straight-tubed cousins, CFLs come in a variety of colors, called the Correlated Color Temperature.  Without getting into technical details, to get the best results when comparing the light to incandescent bulbs, get bulbs with a 2700K to 3000K Correlated Color Temperature.  CFL packaging should soon be displaying this detail, along with better explanations, on packaging, since it will be required to receive ENERGY STAR certification.  Gone will be confusing color names, like “natural white” or “soft white,” because that does not help any.

In addition to energy savings, I pose a question: how many times do you change your bulbs over the course of a year?  Typical incandescent bulbs are designed to last between 750 and 1000 hours, or about 100 to 200 days when using the light 8 to 12 hours per day.  CFLs are generally rated between 6000 and 15000 hours.  At the high end of things, CFLs can last up to 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs.  At a 100 to 200 day lifespan, incandescent bulbs are almost guaranteed to need at least one replacement during the year.  Even a 6000 hour CFL, running 12 hours per day lasts almost 2 years, the span that between 4 and 6 incandescent bulbs would be running in the one CFL’s place.

An unexpected advantage of CFLs that is rarely touched upon is the heat reduction.  After an incandescent light has been on for a while and you put your hand up to it, how does it feel?  It is pretty hot, right?  Take that 60 watt incandescent bulb and try the same thing with its 15 watt CFL replacement.  The CFL is much cooler after being on all day than the incandescent!  If your home has a lot of lighting, think of all the heat those incandescent bulbs are adding to the air, and how much the air conditioner is running to cool things back down.  While the added heat may be great in the winter (well, where I live we don’t believe in winter!), the amount of energy saved by keeping your home cooler can surprise you, all because of light bulbs.

CFLs are one of the easiest, cheapest ways to make your home more green.  I will admit, there is a surprising amount of negative press surrounding these funky looking bulbs, but if you do research, you will see there are answers and solutions to every problem that people seem to find.  Through energy savings, lower replacement frequency, and even the heat reduction, CFLs can help save costs across the board and can be a way to jumpstart your path to a greener future.

One Stop Green is looking towards a Greener Future, sharing the latest and greatest ideas in green living and Green Technology with you through our staff written blogs. Going Green is no longer a choice, it's our responsibility, that's why it's so important to try and do the small things that can help change the outlook of the planet - and this is essentially the purpose of One Stop Green. We believe even the little things like recycling or using less water helps the environment out in a big way, and that's why our various solutions seek to nurture and edify your home or business in an eco-friendly manner.

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