Aug
18
Compact Flourescent Lights (CFLS) are replacing existing incandescant lighting and will lower your energy usage and reduce your power bill. The move to more energy saving light bulbs across the country is expected to save more than four terrawatt hours of electricity. This is conservation of energy ( equivalent to decommissioning one small coal fired power station),and will save up to four million tons of greenhouse gas emissions ( equal to one million cars off the road) and more than $400 million per year – saving more than $50 per year per household, and all by installing energy saving lights. These figures are conservative and the real figures will most likely be much higher. Your traditional pear shaped globe are the least efficient – these globes waste 90% of the energy they use, mainly as heat and increase your electric bill. They have high energy use and will be the first to be phased out with import Light bulb Banrestrictions expected to come into effect. The United States have passed a law barring stores from selling incandescant light bulbs after the year 2012, a new energy bill is soon to be signed. The EU and Australia have already decided to ditch the inefficient devices in the not-too-distant future. More efficient types of energy saving incandescant bulbs – known as halogens will continue to be available, but the least efficient of this group will be phased out over time. Compact Flourescent Lights (CFLs) and halogen bulbs can be used in the majority of the fittings that take incandescent
Energy Saving Lights
bulbs. Compact Flourescent Lights are the more energy efficient of the two, increasing energy savings, however both types are readily available on the market. Compact Flourescent Lights use the same technology as the linear flourescent tubes, the type that are common in schools, workplaces and hospitals, but they are designed to be used in your homes. How can i save money, when a CFL costs about 6 times the price of an incandescent bulb? A cone-shaped spiral CFL can cost $3, compared to the price of .50c for a standard incandescent compact flouro vs incandescentbulb, but a CFL uses approximately 75% less energy, saving power and lasts five years compared to a few months. For a household that spent $90 changing 30 incandescent bulbs to Compact Flourescent Lights, a saving of between $440 and $1500 would be possible over the five year life of the bulbs, depending on the cost of your electricity. It represents a possible 12% discount on your electricity bill. Is it better to leave CFLs on if you briefly vacate a room rather than switching them off, to save energy and conserve its life? A common misconception about saving energy is that more energy is used to switch a flourescent light on and off than to leave it on when you leave the room. When a flourescent light is switched on there is an ‘inrush’ current that is higher than
CFLS vs Incandescant
the current that is drawn during normal operation. This current is only drawn for a fraction of a second, therefore it is always more energy efficient to turn the light off when it is not needed, however by turning a CFL on and off frequently you will shorten its life, so a happy medium needs to be reached and with sensible use you will get a long life from your Compact Flourescent Lights. Also if you have dimmable light fixtures, make sure you buy Compact Flourescent Lights labeled as Dimmable.
