Unkle_John
01-03-2008, 08:30 AM
Change Your Light Bulbs, Change the World: Save Money with Compact Fluorescents
by Charles Higginson, Mother Earth News Associate Editor
Here's your chance to take one small step that will help protect the
environment, save energy and save money. The Change A Light, Change
The World
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge )
campaign encourages Americans to replace a conventional bulb or
fixture in the home or workplace with a compact fluorescent light
(CFL) bulb that has earned the government's Energy Star label for
energy efficiency.
If every American home changed just five of its most-used light
fixtures to Energy Star bulbs, each family would save about $60 every
year in energy costs -- and together we'd save about $6.5 billion each
year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent
to those from more than 8 million cars.
Energy Star qualified bulbs and fixtures use one-third the energy of
traditional models, last up to 10 times longer and reduce utility
costs. In fact, consumers can save up to $30 in utility costs over the
lifetime of one bulb. And the less energy we use, the less energy
electric utilities must generate, and less demand means fewer
greenhouse gas emissions.
These bulbs are readily available at home improvement stores, discount
stores and many other retail outlets. And current bulbs are much
brighter, easier on the eyes and less expensive than previous versions
of the CFL.
The "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign is an annual effort by
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, and
this year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined the
campaign to extend its reach. It started in early October and runs
through November.
Make your own commitment to change the world today! Just take the
Energy Star Change a Light Pledge
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge ) to
replace any number of standard light bulbs. You also can sign up to
receive energy-saving tips quarterly from Energy Star. Individuals who
pledged during last year's campaign will prevent greenhouse gas
emissions equivalent to nearly 3,000 vehicles and save $2 million in
energy costs. Learn more
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting ) about
Energy Star light bulbs and fixtures.
Julie and I switched over about 6 years ago and we have noticed a huge difference in our electric bills. The bulbs are great on your eyes too, when you enter a dark or blacked out room and turn them on there isn't "sudden light", they turn on dim an slowly elevate the light as they warm up. We bought all of ours from Home Depot under the brand name "Commercial Electric", which I believe is a Home Depot "brand". They are 60watt, put out 900 Lumens, have 10K in hours of life and only use 14 watts of power. The style that ours are are classified as "ultra mini spiral lamp" and comes with a 7 year guarantee.
Now not every light in our house (or even yours if you choose to use them) can hold a CFL. Night lights, certain types of ceiling fans and so forth call for smaller bulbs. But those bulbs don't pull a lot of watts either. I also signed the pledge listed above... too bad I could only choose 10 light bulbs, I believe I am using 25-30 CFL bulbs in the house.
by Charles Higginson, Mother Earth News Associate Editor
Here's your chance to take one small step that will help protect the
environment, save energy and save money. The Change A Light, Change
The World
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge )
campaign encourages Americans to replace a conventional bulb or
fixture in the home or workplace with a compact fluorescent light
(CFL) bulb that has earned the government's Energy Star label for
energy efficiency.
If every American home changed just five of its most-used light
fixtures to Energy Star bulbs, each family would save about $60 every
year in energy costs -- and together we'd save about $6.5 billion each
year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent
to those from more than 8 million cars.
Energy Star qualified bulbs and fixtures use one-third the energy of
traditional models, last up to 10 times longer and reduce utility
costs. In fact, consumers can save up to $30 in utility costs over the
lifetime of one bulb. And the less energy we use, the less energy
electric utilities must generate, and less demand means fewer
greenhouse gas emissions.
These bulbs are readily available at home improvement stores, discount
stores and many other retail outlets. And current bulbs are much
brighter, easier on the eyes and less expensive than previous versions
of the CFL.
The "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign is an annual effort by
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, and
this year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined the
campaign to extend its reach. It started in early October and runs
through November.
Make your own commitment to change the world today! Just take the
Energy Star Change a Light Pledge
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge ) to
replace any number of standard light bulbs. You also can sign up to
receive energy-saving tips quarterly from Energy Star. Individuals who
pledged during last year's campaign will prevent greenhouse gas
emissions equivalent to nearly 3,000 vehicles and save $2 million in
energy costs. Learn more
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting ) about
Energy Star light bulbs and fixtures.
Julie and I switched over about 6 years ago and we have noticed a huge difference in our electric bills. The bulbs are great on your eyes too, when you enter a dark or blacked out room and turn them on there isn't "sudden light", they turn on dim an slowly elevate the light as they warm up. We bought all of ours from Home Depot under the brand name "Commercial Electric", which I believe is a Home Depot "brand". They are 60watt, put out 900 Lumens, have 10K in hours of life and only use 14 watts of power. The style that ours are are classified as "ultra mini spiral lamp" and comes with a 7 year guarantee.
Now not every light in our house (or even yours if you choose to use them) can hold a CFL. Night lights, certain types of ceiling fans and so forth call for smaller bulbs. But those bulbs don't pull a lot of watts either. I also signed the pledge listed above... too bad I could only choose 10 light bulbs, I believe I am using 25-30 CFL bulbs in the house.