CARE Corner

I've heard a lot about Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs - will using them really save energy and money?

Replacing many of your traditional light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs is one of the easiest ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.  CFL bulbs have the same cool burning, energy conserving advantage of regular fluorescent tubes, but are reconfigured into a smaller screw-in bulb. Home lighting typically comprises up to about 20% of an average electric bill. Look for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star stamp on the packaging, and by switching to CFL, you could potentially save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime.

CFLs with Energy Star approval use about 75 percent less energy and last about 10 times longer than most incandescent light bulbs. The CFL bulbs also produce about 75 percent less heat, so you can operate them with less worry while cutting energy costs associated with home cooling. CFLs are now available in all sorts of sizes and shapes that will fit in almost any fixture.

To get the most out of CFL bulbs, they are recommended for use in light fixtures that will be in use for at least 15 minutes or longer. The best fixtures to use CFLs in are typically found in family and living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms and outdoor fixtures. They can also be used in accent lighting, or with timers to help limit unnecessary energy waste.

Although CFLs can be used to replace incandescent and some halogen light bulbs, don’t expect the exact same results. There is usually a lag time for the bulb to reach its full brightness. The smaller spiral bulbs may take about 30 seconds and some of the flood lights can take as long as 2.5 minutes. You may want to skip using CFLs in areas which require full powered bright light quickly, like closets or dark staircases.

CFL bulbs do contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 5 milligrams – which is about the amount to cover the tip of a ball point pen. Please call your local municipal solid waste agency or log on to www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling for information on how to dispose of used or broken CFL bulbs.

CFLs are packaged in the same method as traditional light bulbs. To choose the correct amount of light, the manufacturers have used common terms that most consumers are used to. For example, you will find the equivalent watts on the packaging, using terms like “Soft White 60” or “60 Watt Replacement.” Even though the light output is equivalent to a regular 60 watt bulb, the actual electrical wattage used may be between 13-15 watts. You may be used to using bulbs that consume 40, 75 or even 150 watts, but switch to CFL bulbs and your usage could drop to as low as 9-13, 18-25 and 30-52 watts respectively.

A quick and simple way to help save energy and reduce the frequency of light bulb replacement in a 2 story great room is to use CFL bulbs, as these light bulbs use less energy and last longer than conventional light bulbs. It has been estimated that if every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an Energy Star qualified CFL bulb, enough energy could be saved in one year to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars.

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