Instapundit points to How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It. Changing the world is, to say the least, a bit of hyperventilation. This does, however, represent a very simple and painless way to save some money by consuming less electricity and if done on a large scale can surely matter in some measurable way. Over the past few months I have replaced the 12 most frequently "on" bulbs in my home with these.
I have only 3 complaints and they are minor.
One, of course, is that the purchase price of these bulbs is very high compared with ordinary bulbs - but the cost is $3 - $4 per bulb so it is not out of reach for anyone to replace some as needed. If the savings claims are inflated only double, however, that is money recouped in both electricity bills and longevity. I haven't tracked the electrical consumption but I presume the claims must have some basis in fact.
Longevity remains to be seen but the only other flourescent bulbs I have in my house have lifetimes that are downright astonishing. About eight or more years ago I had installed a ceiling fixture that used some funky looking U-shaped flourescent bulbs. They finally went bye-bye and when I went to replace them I could no longer remember how to extract them. That was a pain in the arse since I wound up tearing the bubs apart figuring out how to extract them. That is obviously not an issue with the bulbs that screw in like any other bulb and will be a benefit with a couple of the fixtures I chose since they are decorative and make changing bulbs a bit of a chore.
My second complaint, and the biggest, is that these bulbs are still slow to reach their maximum output. They take a few moments to "spin up" when you flip the switch. It isn't very long and one becomes accustomed to it but you can flip the switch and be in bed before the light is on.
My final complaint is that these are not yet (or at least I haven't found them) available in 40 watt variety. Sixty watt is the lowest I've found. In multibulb fixtures (kitchen for example) I prefer using 40 watt bulbs. Three forty watt bulbs is perfect, three sixties is too much light. Once I find some 40's I'll move the 60's out of those fixtures and replace some other bulbs. This also means I can't quite get the maximum savings since I'm still burning a watt or three more than I need and prefer.
It is a small thing but well worth the initial cost and minor irritatation of slow startup.
10 comments:
A few years ago I had my pupils dilated for an eye test. It was in the evening and I was driven home after. When I walked in the front door of my apt everything was WAY TOO BRIGHT.
So other solutions to this problem might be:
Everyone using eyedrops after sunset to dilate their pupils.
or
Everyone smokes some MJ same timeframe.
or
Mating with cats.
Sylvester!
A big advantage of compact fluorescents is that if you like to leave lights on at night or when you are out of the house, you can have your sense of security without feeling you are burning dollars only out of insecurity.
The fine print on the packaging for these bulbs mentions that they cannot be used with a rheostat (a dimmer switch).
That, and the time it takes them to come up to speed, are what keeps me from using them everywhere. I use them in the garage, where in winter it takes them a *really* long time to spin up. They don't work in the my garage door opener fixture either, which is annoying.
...if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people.
...Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $1 billion to buy about 2 billion lightbulbs--5.5 million every day. Just 5%, 100 million, were compact fluorescents.
So wait, if 110 million of these things were installed, that would be an incredible, glorious thing, but 100 million last year is peanuts?
Three forty watt bulbs is perfect, three sixties is too much light.
If you can't get a suntan, it's not bright enough.
The nation's electrical use isn't going to be radically altered by CFLs.
I mainly use them because they last so long. For outdoor stuff and sockets that are hard to reach, that is a definite plus.
Of course, before you invest in CFs, you have to wonder how much longer before the LED revolution hits the house. It sure has changed bike lighting - and Knuck, I was really excited when that happened - very cheap, lightweight and pretty bright.
Of course, before you invest in CFs, you have to wonder how much longer before the LED revolution hits the house.
Gas lighting is good and comes with build in dimmers. Hmmm, know of any bike lights that use acetylene?
My wife calls the fluorescents I've put all over the house the "request-a-light"s. THat's the old generation. The truth, though, is that the newest generation of these things come on very fast, fast enough in my opinion to justify using them.
"walked to school uphill, in the snow"
The way I heard it, it finished with the boys breaking out a window so they could start a fire in the stove. Thank goodness for global warming.
Will ordinary grocery stores carry lightbulbs anymore?
If it goes like it has for appliances, we'll just throw out the house when the lights start to go and get a new one.
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