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.
Install only compact fluorescent light bulbs
A Compact Fluorescent Lamp (or CFL) is a small circular fluorescent light bulb used to replace incandescent bulbs. They typically take the same amount of space as an old incandescent bulb, and screw right into the same socket.
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.
The CFL is one of a few green products to help you to stop wasting your money on incandescent bulbs. Even if an incandescent bulb costs less than a $1 at the local store, it will still cost you much more to run it. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with one of the new Energy Star compliant CFLs will save you around $30 a year and last 10 times longer. So let’s see one incandescent bulb every 3 months (4 per year x 2 years = $8) vs. a $6.95 bulb whose life averages 2 years, Hum
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.
When using the Daylight or bluish bulbs be aware that their light appears harsh to many. People with light sensitivity could be adversely affected. If you notice them squinting or avoiding areas where this light is used, then try using a warmer light.
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.
A 9-13 watt CFL will replace a 40 watt incandescent bulb; use a 13-15 watt to replace a 60 watt incandescent bulb; for a 75 watt incandescent bulb use a 18-25 watt CFL; and use a 23-30 watt CFL to replace a 100 watt incandescent bulb.
Nevertheless, do not forget to recycle all CFLs. California law for example forbids the disposal of any lamps containing mercury in the regular solid waste trash. Even though a CFL is one of the most convenient green products, it does contain about five milligrams of mercury - one-fifth of the amount of mercury in an average watch battery.
To dispose of an old CFL, visit a retailer like ACE Hardware, Orchard, Home Depot or IKEA. Many of them will recycle these bulbs for you.
For decorative lights, consider choosing Energy Star qualified light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The LED units are great green products and use up to 90% less energy than an equivalent incandescent bulb to produce the same amount of light. I have been told that the power required to burn a single seven-watt incandescent bulb could power up to 140 LEDs! So wherever you used incandescent bulb in the past, replace them with a new CFL, and for outside lighting use the new LED decorative lights. This will save you money and reduce your carbon footprint.
One of the next green products will look at is small appliance power supplies.
Michael
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