Wed 3 Jan 2007
Today Seth Godin had an interesting post about the benefit of compact fluorescent light bulbs and why they haven’t caught on given the benefits.
So, why have only 6% of all US households installed even one CF lightbulb?
It can’t be the economics. After all, a typical CF bulb saves the user more than $66 over its lifetime. Count the bulbs in your house, multiply by 66…
It can’t be the environmental impact. CF bulbs actually reduce the amount of mercury in the environment, because even though there’s a tiny amount of mercury vapor in each bulb, the amount of coal production they cut down more than makes up for it. Add to that the hundreds of pounds of greenhouse gases they reduce… (if you had to buy and bring home the gases with each purchase, I think it would make a difference in the the relative sales).
And it’s not the geopolitical impact either. If we switched all our bulbs, we could stop importing oil altogether. Without giving up one Hummer.
So, why are people apparently immune to the benefits. I mean, why won’t we even try one of the bulbs?
I’m afraid I don’t have the answer. In addition to the above reasons, one thing people often overlook is that often utilities will PAY for you to use compact flourescent bulbs. Last year I looked into replacing all of the bulbs in my apartment with flourescent bulbs. When I found out that my power company would reimburse me for it, it was a no brainer.
They save money, they’re good for the environment, and they last long so you don’t have to mess around with changing bulbs as often. What’s not to like?
18 Responses to “ Money saving tip: fluorescent light bulbs ”
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January 3rd, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I saw an article about this in the New York Times. It would certainly be a start if everbody picked up a few of these. Obviously nobody wants flourescent light in every room of their house, but a few bulbs couldn’t hurt. Thanks for spreading the word!
January 5th, 2007 at 9:10 am
The answer is actually pretty easy. Even the “warm” CF bulbs cast an off-color light and tend to “muddy” colors compared to incandescents, which closely mirror the sun. Have you ever noticed under traditional tube style fluorescents that it is harder to distinguish similar shades of color and that colors looks more washed out? This effect is even worse with the high-pressure (and high-efficiency) sodium vapor lights used on the highway. They cast the orange glow.
This is primarily a result of the CRI, or color rendering index of each light. Noonday sun is considered the benchmark and has a CRI of 100. Tube fluorescents are typically around 40. Sodium vapor can be in the 25-40 range. Incandescent lights are 95-100. Most compact fluorescents can’t manage better than 85.
Color temperature also plays a role in this, although CF bulbs can be bought that are close in temperature to incandescents.
Here are a couple links. The first one is on GE and is very good.
http://www.gelighting.com/na/business_lighting/education_resources/learn_about_light/color_rendering.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_light
January 7th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Fair enough, ntguru. I suppose there are some negatives associated with cf bulbs. However, I don’t think they outweigh the positives. Personally, I can’t tell the difference between light sources, but your point is well taken.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
We make use of them in places we don’t live much such as outside, the garage, and basement. I wish I could handle them in the main part of the house as that is where the most savings would be derived but I can’t. They have been getting better and better–hopefully good enough soon.
January 12th, 2007 at 7:22 am
I read that on Seth’s blog also. I have used CFL for several years. I just bought a new home and installed them almost everywhere (my wife wouldn’t let me put them in the bathrooms).
January 12th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Enjoyable blog. I have been enjoying reading it.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Even with the negative drawbacks to using CFL’s, the bulbs are still great for low-traffic areas (garages, closets, hallways.) More importantly, large consumer buildings would do well by switching. Imagine if every grocery, discount, and retail store switched to CFL’s. The energy savings from just the business sector alone would put a huge dent in our nations energy consumption.
January 23rd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Most big box places already use highly-efficient forms of lighting including traditional long fluorescent tubes and high-pressure halide lights. Same with gas stations, malls, etc. Very few large places still use incandescant lights. Obviously some exceptions are shops where light quality matters, such as jewelers.
But definitely in residences, use of CFLs in non-living areas would have a large positive impact.
February 1st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Get a clue: CF bulbs emit a HIDEOUSLY narrow lightband which is HARSH on the eye and makes a normal human look like a DAWN OF THE DEAD ZOMBIE!
FOR the garage they are fine. For the living areas - FORGET IT!
If you can’t tell the difference you are either BLIND or LYING.
$66 per bulb over a LIFETIME? You’re right it’s a no-brainer - I’d rather ENJOY MY HOME rather than walk around looking like LONG-DEAD CORPSE!
You are free to spend your life in DENIAL about the LIMITATIONS and DRAWBACKS of CF if you choose, but the rest of humanity will not join you.
February 14th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I have been in the lighting business for 20 years and have witnessed the evolution of the CFL. What I have found that the key to liking the bulb is directly associated to the brand bulb you buy. It is all about color temperature. Some brands cast a “white” light that is not easy on the eyes - what you want to look for are bulbs that truly produce 2700K.
We sell nearly every brand out there, but I can absolutely say that what you want in your house is TCP brand. Whether you buy them from us or not is your choice but it makes me sick when I go into someones house and their yellow walls suddenly turned green - simply because of the color temp that the CFL produce.
We all want everyone to convert to CFL’s or LED’s or even the newest technology Cold Cathode Lamps (which are really cool) BUT we all need to have a good experience when we plug them in AND actually like the light output. If any of you need or want to learn more go to www.soslightbulbs.com then click the home icon - we have put some pretty informative stuff on there.
February 15th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
A couple problems I have run into with CF bulbs (besides the color issue) are:
1. there is a delay after turning them on & it can sometimes be an appreciable time before they light to full strength.
2. Their odd shape prevents their use in some lampshades
February 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am
GregL
These problems have been worked. I would recommend going to our website and see all the styles that compacts are now made in.
You might be surprised by their performance and shapes. I also think the Home Depots of the world are also starting to carry different styles.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Jason - thanks, I’ll give them another chance.
-G
March 6th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I have been trying to get some money ideas for my website and list them at the forum www.gardeningdatabase.co.uk/forum however I visted my parents and they are still using incandescent lights. They do not like the light output from the newer CF bulbs.
It got me thinking too, do they really save that much money, I think not.
A room’s heat is the sum of of heat sources within the room. If the room is thermostatically controlled then the main heating will be proportionally less for each independant heat source in the room. This maybe people, pets, or incandescent lights.
Therefore 15 Watts to 100 watts can seem cheaper, but if look closer then the 100 Watt lamps means the main heating requires a reduction of 100 watts to acheive the same level of heating.
The only time that CF lamps actually save money is when the main heating is not on.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:43 am
I think that part of the reason that people don’t use these little bulbs is the fact that they’re used to the traditional ones. They abhor change - how many people do you know are willing to accept change readily? We’ve all grown up with the regular ones and the CF bulbs just don’t look like light bulbs.
I’m glad that the majority of my bulbs are the low voltage/wattage pot lights.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:29 am
Glad I caught your post, I have heard of CF bulbs before but didn’t know about utility companies reimbursing you for installing them or that $66 figure. I am on my way to Home Depot right now, thanks for the info. In terms of people not using them, I believe a lot of it is just awareness. If everyone could read your post there would be a serious run on CF bulbs.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Cool blog…
I took the “plunge” and bought a bunch of these new bulbs and changed the majority of my condo to them. We’ll see how much it saves in the next bill…
I did notice some downsides like you guys mentioned here but not a big deal. The worst is one of the bedrooms and one of my bathrooms (takes time to light up all the way)
The rest of my light fixtures hold multiple bulbs so it lights up more then enough right away. Pretty cool… And they’re not that expensive anymore.