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Let It Shine

 

Don't Be In The Dark About Light Bulbs
We call them "lights," but incandescent bulbs only use 10% of their power in producing light.  The remaining 90% of their power turns into heat.  Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb 128 years ago and it hasn't changed much since then.  

Because of there inefficiencies, Congress has banned the use of incandescent light bulbs starting in 2014.  U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said "The continued widespread use of incandescent lighting results in low overall efficiency, high energy costs and output, and in the end, tons and tons of harmful carbon emissions.  According to the Department of Energy, one energy efficient bulb can prevent the release of over 450 pounds of greenhouse gases."

In light of this information, what are we to do?  Switching to energy efficient light bulbs not only saves the planet, but also your wallet.  Check the cost savings of switching to energy efficient bulbs by using the Environmental Defense Fund's Cost Savings Calculator.

What Makes It Green?
There are 2 types of energy efficient light bulbs - Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).  Each has pros and cons.

CFLs are simply miniature versions of full-sized fluorescents.  They use 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs.  CFLs are best used in light fixtures that aren't turned on and off often.  CFLs contain small amounts of mercury, which is a toxic metal. The mercury may be released if the bulb is broken.  Also, the components of a CFL bulb are recyclable, so it's important to try to carefully recycle them and not throw them away. 

LEDs are small, solid light bulbs which are extremely energy-efficient.  The high cost of producing LEDs has been a roadblock to widespread use. However, researchers at Purdue University have recently developed a process for using inexpensive silicon wafers to replace the expensive sapphire-based technology. This promises to bring LEDs into competitive pricing with CFLs and incandescent.  LEDs can last 10 times longer than CFLs (about 60,000 hours), use only 2 - 10 watts of electricity (less than both incandescent and CFLs), contain no mercury and easily can pay for themselves in energy savings over their lifetime. 

What You Can Do
  • Start with one room or a single wattage of bulbs and switch those first.
  • Determine which type of bulb will work best for your space and/or fixtures.
  • Start with one bulb in the room to test the brightness and wattage. If using CFL, look for bulbs whose wattage is about one-quarter of the incandescent you're replacing. For example, a CF bulb in the 15-watt range replaces around a 60-watt incandescent.
  • If using CFLs, choose a color that works best in your space. Warm/soft white - same as incandescent bulbs, Cool/bright white - good for kitchens & workspaces, Natural/daylight - good for reading.
  • If using LEDs, check out the GeoBulb.  It's not cheap, but it's 30,000 hour bulb life will save you money over the long haul.  Choose from 3 colors - soft, cool and warm white.  The best part is that it saves 87% of the electricity used by a 60 Watt incandescent bulb and over 40% used by a 13 Watt (60 Watt equivalent) CFL bulb.
  • Recycle all light bulbs responsibly - check with your local recycling center to determine how it handles them. Go to Earth911.com and type in your zip code to find a recycling center close to your home.
didyouknow
If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an Energy Star CFL, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 800,000 cars.

handson
I started switching bulbs that I used often for long periods of time and were a little hard to get to when changing.  The kitchen overhead was my first choice since we're in there all the time and it's on the ceiling.  Then I just went room to room from there.
 
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