From Get Rich Slowly:
April 22nd is Earth Day in the United States. In celebration The Home Depot is giving away one million compact fluorescent lightbulbs
to people who visit their stores this Sunday. Rumor has it that the
free bulbs will be N:Vision soft whites, which were the best in a
recent Popular Mechanics lab test.
Electric lighting consumes nearly a quarter of the average home
energy budget. Because compact fluorescent bulbs are energy efficient,
they cost less to use. In his excellent guide to saving electricity, Michael Bluejay writes:
The easiest way to save electricity is to replace
your light bulbs with screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs. They put out
light similar to standard bulbs but use 75% less electricity.
Compact fluorescent bulbs also last longer than incandescents. It’s
true that they’re more expensive initially (up to $10/bulb), but the typical CF bulb will save you nearly $10/year.
How many lightbulbs do you have in your house? How many could you
replace with compact fluorescents? How much money would that save you?
Even if The Home Depot only gives you one free bulb, you can
purchase several more while you’re there. It’ll save you money in the
long run!
To learn more about compact fluorescent bulbs, visit One Billion Bulbs. The Home Depot Eco Options
page includes a calculator that demonstrates how much you can save with
CFLs — click the red “energy efficient” box at the bottom of the page.
See also the incandescent vs. CFL vs. LED light bulb challenge at Product Dose. Finally, Nickel documented his changeover to CFLs — he replaced 107 bulbs!
Technorati Tags: Home Depot, Compact Flulorescent Lightbulbs, Fluorescent, Lightbulbs, Popular Mechanics, Free Lightbulbs, Home Depot give away, Michael Bluejay, saving electricity, electricity, Product Dose, Incandescent, CFL, LED, Energy Efficient
4 comments:
The MOB could have one of these pages for counting bulb replacements...
I have replaced 6 bulbs in my house in the past year. Plus I've converted two nightlights to using LED's instead of incandescent bulbs. We keep our winter daytime heat set at 57, and nighttime at 62. We do have periods morning and night where the electronic thermostat raises the temp (just before my wife gets out of bed!) so we aren't freezing cold.
Big Chris
I used to be sold on these bulbs, but then I found out they contain mercury (and they only warn you about this with a little box on the back of the packages), thus complicating disposal and breakage issues.
Jason,
virtually all (all?) fluorescent bulbs contain some mercury. The great thing about this type of bulb is that they are very strong. They aren't lightweight whimpy thin glass like a standard lightbulb. They are much stronger. But yes, there is a need to recycle them properly.
Big Chris
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