Tired of Giving Away Money to the Electric Company?
This article is the first in a list of practical things you can do to save money on your monthly electric bill. Get some new green products, and maybe use the extra money to pay for a little vacation.
Throw out all the incandescent bulbs
CFL is an abbreviation for a Compact Fluorescent Lamp, which is a fluorescent light bulb with the same form factor as a traditional incandescent bulb (meaning it will fit in most places where you now have plain old light bulbs installed).
A CFL does not generate light the way an incandescent bulbs does. Incandescent light bulbs have worked essentially the same way since Thomas Edison invented them. When electricity is connected to both sides of a carbon filament, it gets hot and produces light. In CFLs (as with the older fluorescent tubes), a closed glass tube is coated with a fluorescent coating that glows when a current is applied to the argon and mercury vapor inside.
Green products do help. When you replace just one incandescent bulb with one of the new Energy Star CFLs, you will use 75% less electricity and save about $30 every year on your electric bill. With the average house having around 10 incandescent bulbs, this would save you $300 a year.
Many of the newer CFLs are available in a wide variety of shades of white light. The color varies from very warm (yellowish) to a bluish white light. This allows you to use the color of the CFL to set the mood of a space or room. Many CFLs come in “warm” colors to match the light of the old incandescent bulbs.
The bluish CFLs may have a negative effect on light sensitive people. If friends or family are light sensitive, a warmer color CFL might be better.
You will find on most CFL packages a number like 2700K. The K stands for Kelvin or color temperature range the bulb will produce when lit. The lower the number, the warmer (or more yellow) the color. Most Soft White bulbs will produce color in the 3500K-4100K range. Bright white or Daylight bulbs will be found in the 5000K-6500K range. Higher numbers are very blue and harsh.
To replace a 40 watt incandescent bulb, use a 9-13 watt CFL bulb; for a 60 watt incandescent bulb use a 13-15 watt; for a 75 watt incandescent bulb use an 18-25 watt CFL; and for a 100 watt incandescent bulb, use a 23-30 watt CFL.
Don’t forget that even though a CFL is one of the new green products, it cannot be thrown in the regular trash. In fact some states have laws that forbid this. I am told that a CFL contains about five milligrams of mercury, and should not be put in landfills.
Many retailers in your area like ACE Hardware, Home Depot and Orchard have recycling programs that will accept your used CFL green products.
A host of new green products for outdoors, poolside, garden, and sidewalk lighting are moving to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The new LED bulbs are 90% more efficient than an incandescent bulb. I would recommend using an Energy Star compliant system; you will usually have a longer time between bulb replacements. However, stock up on replacement bulbs – the manufacturers seem to change the design every couple of years, and then it becomes hard to find replacement parts.
One of the next green products will look at is small appliance power supplies.
Michael