Over the past thirty years the design and technology for light bulbs, along with lighting in general has changed so dramatically that it would not only be financially rewarding, but also tremendously convenient to spend some time reviewing your home's lighting.
| The odds are that the majority of your home's lights, inside and out are still incandescent. That is to say, they are the Edison style light bulbs with technology from 1879 and a 1928 design. These incandescent lights not only have the shortest life span available (average light bulb 750 hours, average), but they are also the most inefficient and expensive to operate. Up to 90% of the electricity consumed, produces heat. Only 10% of the energy used creates light. However, the biggest tease about incandescent light bulbs is that all of them can lose up to 45% of their light level with age! "However, the biggest tease about incandescent light bulbs is that all of them can lose up to 45% of their light level with age!"
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Northeast coast power companies place at least 15% of the homeowner's electric bill toward their lights. There is no illuminating reason why your lights should cost that much when there are new types of light bulbs now available to reduce the "lighting" part of your electric bill by 70% or more. These new bulbs have longer life, less heat, better light color, and only about a 10% light level lost with age. Also when replaced correctly there is no sacrifice to your present light levels, only a lower electric bill.
| The first enegry saving bulb was Philip's Compact Fluorescent called the SL-18 and then the EarthLight. While only using 18 watts, this high-tech fluorescent light bulb gave off 75 watts of light. "Yes, compact energy saving fluorescent bulbs were available to buy in the United States back in 1982!" |
Energy Saving Bulbs
| The newest electronic fluorescent bulbs come in many wattages and are small enough to fit everywhere. Today you can buy a 23 watt bulb that gives you a light level equal to a 100 watt incandescent bulb and with the same warm light color as an incandescent. These bulbs are now under $5.00 each, will last an average of seven years and over the life of the bulb, you can save about $50.00 off of the electric bill in certain areas of our country. |
For those of you thinking about some negative features to these light bulbs, I will address those topics in future postings. However, please note that the pros far out weight the cons and the cons are mostly from these bulbs being mass produced today by many different companies who wanted the bulbs to be cheaper, but not better.
LED candelabra bulb shape
| Many different LED bulb designs are now coming out on the market. However, their pricing is very high and eats into your payback time because whatever you save on the electric bill, was spent to buy the product. The first energy, money and earth saving bulb (SL-18) had been around since 1982! Unfortunately, because of money making goals, twenty years had to go by before they became readily available at affordable prices. I fear the same will stand true for the new LED bulbs. |
So next time a light bulb burns out in your house, instead of changing that bulb with the same old routine, look into buying an energy saving bulb today. The end result will be you helping to save our environment tomorrow!
Bill Lauto, GTG
Bill Lauto, GTG
