Compact Florescent | Continental Drift

Compact Florescent | Continental Drift

Compact Florescent

Thu, Oct 23, 2008

The Blue Planet

You can save an easy $200 a year with CFL's

Among the biggest reasons for not being a little greener is that it costs money and is a hassle. But most people aren’t taking advantage of one of the most obvious ways to be both environmentally friendly and save some some extra cash: CFL’s.  Compact florescent lights.  Consider this: lighting accounts for 20 percent of an electric bill in the average U.S. home, and the average home has approximately 30 light fixtures.  Compact fluorescent light bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light, and they last up to 10 times longer.

What does that mean in terms of actual cash savings.  An average of $190 in saving per year and more than a $1000 over the lifetime of the bulbs.  Earlier this year I went to our local home improvement store and bought two “family pack” sized sets of 24 60-watt equivalent CFL’s, and replaced all the lights in our home.  41 lights total, which will be about $260 in savings for us every year.  To calculate your savings click here.

How do CFL’s impact the environment?

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

The impacts of reducing energy consumption are massive.  But not only in terms of raw C02 outputs but also everything from the environmental degradation caused by mining coal to filling up landfills with incandescent light bulbs (roughly 6 football fields piled 50 feet high each year).

Many people complain that CFL’s just don’t provide the same quality of light as incandescent bulbs.  Here are a few tips I learned:

1. Not all CFL’s are the same: There are different bulbs for different uses.  To select the best fit for your needs, click here.
2. Pick a higher rated CFL than advertised: For main house lighting I chose slightly larger bulbs - typically 100-watt equivalent.  Then for less prominent lighting (bathrooms, halls, lamps, etc) I used standard 60-watt equivalent.
3. Keep a few incandescent lights: One or two lamps installed with warm or daylight incandescent bulbs can change the mood of the room.  They don’t need to be on all the time, but when the occasion calls they balance out CFL’s with out compromising environmental or cost savings.

Opponents of CFL’s typically cite the CFL’s one Achilles heal - mercury.  While the arguments have been long and heated the realities are that CFL’s contain less than 4 milligrams of mercury, of which only 11% remains when the light bulb expires.  On the other hand, electricity from coal plants is one of the primary contributors to mercury pollution.  By reducing energy consumption through the use of CFL’s, the net effect can actually reduc mercury pollution by a significant portion.

For more information on CFL’s as well as stat’s visit these sites:

One Billion Bulbs:  A site dedicated to promoting CFL’s.  Some cool stats on impacts to date.

Energy Star: More info

NPR:  A different opinion on the subject

CFL Trends Globally:  How governments and nations around the world are responding

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