A Closer Look At CFLs, Part 1: Conscientiously Frugal Lighting

Posted on August 23, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under A Closer Look, Frugality

I’m sure by now you have heard or read about how CFLs can save the world – “one bulb at a time”. Are you thinking about taking the plunge and replacing your regular old inefficient incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lamps? The reasons to do so are compelling.

In this 4-part series dedicated to the CFL we will look at the benefits and common concerns , as well as how to choose the right CFL, and how to make them last . I hope you will come along for the ride as we get to know this household rockstar.

There are many reasons to at least try a CFL in your home – here are few big ones that directly benefit your pocketbook.

CFLs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent lighting. CFLs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs.

CFLs use less wattage to produce the same light output.
CFLs also produce about 90% less heat (otherwise known as wasted energy)

By switching out a regular bulb for a CFL you can slash the amount of electricity used for lighting your home (and potentially even cooling your home!). We calculated the actual savings (based on wattage alone) we had last month by replacing our standard incandescent porch light with a 14 watt CFL. According to our June 2007 bill, it cost $0.099 per kilowatt hour.

Porch light w/ CFL
14 watt CFL on 10 hours a day = .14 kWh
.14 kWh * $0.099 per kWh = $0.0138 per day
$0.0138 per day * 30 days=$0.41/month

Porch light w/ Incandescent Bulb
60 watt bulb on 10 hours a day = .6 kWh
.6 kWh * $0.099 per kWh = $0.0594 per day
$0.0594 per day * 30 days=$1.78/month

SAVINGS = $1.37 in June on one light bulb alone!
That’s $16.64 a year (assuming all things equal).

The amount you can save varies from bulb to bulb but according to a box of Energy Smart 13 watt CFLs, each bulb can save $38 in electricity over its lifetime (8000 hours). Imagine what that can add up to if you switch out multiple (or even all) bulbs in high use areas of your home!

CFL’s are considered “green”. CFLs have become the poster child for many earth awareness efforts that promote them as a simple way to “reduce your footprint”. Our electric company recently advertised about the environmental benefits of lowering electricity usage and they even offered a free CFL to every customer. Replacing an incandescent with a CFL decreases the amount of electricity the nation’s power plants must generate - and ultimately - the amount of greenhouse gases that they release into the atmosphere.

Check out this thought provoking quote on CFLs from Energy Star:

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

Although the actual environmental benefits of using CFLs are still under debate one thing we can agree on is that they do use less energy and will save you money on your electric bill. How about that? You can save money and potentially help the environment at the same time.

CFLs last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. You will spend less on replacing bulbs that burn out every couple of years with CFLs. This is especially useful for those frequently used lights that are hard to reach or a challenge to replace. We have “Hollywood” style bathroom light fixtures that fit 4-6 globe lights each. It felt like we constantly had to pull in that creaky step ladder to change out dead bulbs. I shudder to think how many incandescent lights we have gone through in our bathrooms alone. Now we have 2 bright CFLs in each fixture (we just leave the other 2-4 spots empty – it doesn’t have to look pretty, just save money!) and we forget about them.

You want to see numbers? Consider the following scenario:

At Amazon, a 4 pack of GE Soft White 60 watt bulbs costs $4.30 – or $1.08 a bulb.
At Walmart, a 6 pack of GE 13 watt CFLs costs $9.88 - or $1.65 a bulb.

The Soft White is rated for 1000 hours while the CFL is rated for 8000 hours. To compare apples to apples we need to level the playing field in hours. To get 8000 hours of lighting you would need:

Incandescent bulbs (8 bulbs at 1000 hours each) = $8.64
CFLs (1 bulb at 8000 hours each) = $1.65

That’s $6.99 less in replacement costs by going with the CFL.

I think you can see now that CFLs offer a powerful financial incentive to ditch the incandescent bulbs by:

reducing the energy costs associated with lighting your home and
limiting your replacement costs.

Despite these positives there are complaints associated with CFLs and their sometimes quirky mannerisms. Check back tomorrow as we examine some common concerns with CFLs.

A Closer Look at CFLs Series Index
    Part 1: Conscientiously Frugal Lighting
    Part 2: Every Rose has its Thorn
    Part 3: Lumens and Kelvins and Watts, Oh My!
    Part 4: Take it to the Limit

Comments

5 Responses to “A Closer Look At CFLs, Part 1: Conscientiously Frugal Lighting”

John on March 18th, 2008 11:26 am

I replaced all my bulbs at my personal home and it has made a big difference without any down side.
Kim Cooking(new comment) on November 6th, 2008 2:30 am

I changed all lights in my home a couple of month ago but haven’t really seen a huge change in my costs.
KimdaCook(new comment) on November 6th, 2008 2:32 am

I too changed my light s to these energy saving kind, besides them being very expensive I have to say that it feels like my electricity has gone up not decreased.
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