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).
CFLs produce light differently than incandescent bulbs. In an incandescent bulb, electricity runs through a wire filament and heats the filament until it starts to glow. In a CFL, an electric current is driven through a tube containing argon and a small amount of mercury vapor. This generates invisible ultraviolet light that excites a fluorescent coating (called phosphor) on the inside of the tube, which then emits visible light.
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.
Since the development of CFLs, manufacturers have been working on a variety of shades, colors, or “temperatures” of light. Currently you can purchase bulbs that will produce light that is yellow, or warn, all the way to bulbs that produce a hard bluish white light. Used properly, this can accent a well designed room or be used for mood lighting. One area you might want to consider is the outside security lighting. I would not recommend a warm inviting mood light if it is being used as security device; perhaps an unfriendly harsh bluish mood would be better.
Be aware that the daylight or bluer light often appears harsh and can have a negative effect on light sensitive people. You will notice they squint or avoid sitting/standing near this color light. If so just change it out for one of the warmer colors.
If you are confused about the “color temperature” and how it will look, it is really pretty simple. On the bulb package, the temperature will be listed in Kelvins (K). The higher the Kelvins, the bluer the color. So a 2700K-3000K is a warm/yellow, similar to a Soft White bulb, whereas a 3500K-4100K is like a Cool White bulb, and 5000K-6500K is a blue Daylight bulb.
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.
Please do not forget to recycle all compact fluorescent bulbs. In some states, the law forbids the disposal of any bulbs containing mercury in the regular solid waste trash. There are about five milligrams of mercury in one CFL bulb, or about 1/5 the of mercury found in a normal wrist-watch battery.
Many retailers in your area like ACE Hardware, Home Depot and Orchard have recycling programs that will accept your used CFL green products.
An even newer and more efficient green product for lighting is LED (light emitting diode) bulbs. They are up to 90% more efficient than a standard incandescent bulb. You will see them used more and more in decorative lighting systems. I am told that the electricity needed to light a single incandescent used a few years ago for lawn lighting could power 15 LED units.
Next time will look at some more green products that can further reduce your carbon footprint and save you still more money.
Michael
Related posts:
- Renewable Energy From An Old Concept
- Green Products Has Located an Incredible Low Cost High Output Solar Design
- Using The Sun’s Energy In A New Way
- Green Products Has Located an Incredible New Low-cost Solar Design
- Using The Sun’s Energy In A Stirling New Way
