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Replace inefficient bulbs and fixtures with energy efficient lights

Wed, 12/26/2007 - 1:04am — efadmin

Lighting is the third largest energy user in your home, representing approximately 10% of your annual energy bill. "Making improvements to your lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bills. . . . Using new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in your home by 50% to 75%. Advances in lighting controls offer further energy savings by reducing the amount of time lights are on but not being used."

"Lighting is responsible for using about a fourth of all electricity consumed in the United States, of which 20 percent goes to extra air conditioning to remove unwanted heat (from lighting). In fact, more than 90 percent of the energy consumed by a standard incandescent bulb is given off as heat, while only 10 percent is converted into light!"

  • "If every household replaced just three 60-watt incandescent bulbs with CF bulbs, the pollution savings would be like taking 3.5 million cars off the road!"

  • "Consumers put off by the slightly higher initial cost of CFLs should note that they last up to thirteen times as long (10,000-12,000 hours) as standard incandescents (750-1,500 hours), and use about one-quarter of the electricity. Thus, one CFL can also eliminate the need to produce, install, remove, and dispose of over a dozen standard incandescent bulbs. To top it off, each CFL you install can save you over $50 in electricity costs over the lifetime of that bulb. For example, if you replaced five 75-watt bulbs in your house with CFLs, you could save over $250 over eight years!"

  • "Using compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs in rooms where lights are on for at least 4 hours per day saves 100 pounds of CO2 annually per bulb."

  • If you are shopping for new light fixtures, look for dedicated compact fluorescent fixtures with built-in ballasts that use pin-based replacement bulbs. Replacement bulbs are cheaper and smaller because the ballast is a separate part of the fixture, and they last even longer – up to 40,000 hours. "If all the households in the United States replaced five 100-watt fixtures with 23-watt CFL fixtures, the electricity saved would power more than three cities the size of New York City, day in and day out."

  • Modern compact fluorescent bulbs do contain small amounts (about 4 milligrams) of mercury, raising environmental concerns if not properly disposed. Yet using a CFL actually creates a net reduction in the amount of mercury released over its lifetime. This is because the largest source of mercury in the air is coal-burning power plants. Since use of an efficient CFL bulb instead of an incandescent bulb requires less energy from coal-fired power plants, it reduces the amount of mercury released directly into the atmosphere by coal-burning power plants - by up to 36 percent. If the CFL is recycled at the end of its life, the amount of mercury released is reduced even further - by 76 percent

Light-emitting diode (LED) technology has even more potential for energy savings and longevity. LEDs are already standard usage in products such as headlamps, cell phones, bicycle lights, and Christmas lights. "Modern LEDs have the potential to last ten times longer than CFLs, depending on the type of application, the type of LED, and the product in which they’re used – some LED table lamps use only 5 watts."

Halogen lamps, while less efficient that LEDs or CFLs, are still up to 50% more efficient than a standard incandescent lamp. Halogen bulbs cost more than standard incandescents but last twice as long, making them a cost-effective investment over time.

Additional tips for energy-efficient lighting include turning off lights in any room you’re not using, installing timers, photo cells or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on, using task lighting instead of lighting an entire room, and taking advantage of natural daylight to further reduce your energy use and therefore your carbon dioxide footprint.

Another important point is before installing a CFL in a dimmer-controlled fixture, be sure it is designed for that purpose. Additionally, turning a CFL on and off frequently can shorten its life. "To take full advantage of the energy savings and long life of ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs, it is best to use them in light fixtures you use the most and are on for at least 15 minutes at a time. Good locations include outdoor light fixtures, indoor fixtures in the living room, family room, kitchen, bedroom, recreation room, etc. This is not to say you should leave your lights on all day if you use ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs. It is still a good habit to turn the lights off when you leave the room for an extended period of time."


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