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Do Your Lights Waste Energy?

2/7/10 at 12:15 pm | 5 Comments

by Chris Prelitz

Edison’s electric light revolutionized the world. Even though we call them “lights,” incandescent bulbs are actually small heaters that make a little light — but emit a lot more heat.  They waste a lot of energy and make air conditioning and evaporative coolers run longer in summer, costing you in comfort and in cash. New high performance lighting will give the same warm light you’re used to, but use only a 1/3 or a 1/10 of the energy of incandescents.

I'm not talking ugly, squiggly, lousy colored lights that blink when you turn them on. No way! Today’s new CFLs and LEDs (light emitting diodes) are sexy beautiful ;)

They are now dimmable with great color. And unlike other sexy beautiful things that are expensive, these babies will actually save you money while they help our environment.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists: If every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. This is the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

Imagine if you changed EVERY light in your home to new CFLs or LEDs!  You could cut your electric bill by 30% to 50%, and maybe even more in summer months.  Who doesn’t want to have that extra cash today? Before summer rolls around, change out every energy-sucking incandescent to new high performance lighting. It’s good for your pocketbook and good for the planet.

If you made a New Year’s resolution to have more abundance, here’s a great way to be economical and environmental both at the same time: Change out every incandescent to a CFL or LED light.

Note: Many CFLs do contain a speck of mercury. If you want high performance lights that don’t use mercury, shop online. Click here. You can find dimmable CFLs that use an amalgam similar to dental fillings instead of raw mercury, along with mercury-free LEDs that will last 50 times longer than incandescents.

FILED UNDER: GOING GREEN, ENERGY-SAVERS, LIGHTING, THOMAS EDISON, ABUNDANCE, MONEY, MERCURY

Comments (5)

• 1.
  February 7, 2010
  5:28 pm

  It had never occured to me that electric lights could be sexy! Candle light sure, but electric lights? Been switching out my old incandescents but worrying about the mercury in the CFL's, thanks for the info on mercury free, and for the handy link to shop online. As always you hand out useful info, like Soles4Souls.org.

  – Valerie Curcuro, Life Coach
• 2.
  February 9, 2010
  8:21 am

  To this day, electric light is practically synonymous with a civilized standard of living - but we forget that the technology is over 100 years old! If Edison were alive today, I'm sure he'd have new high performance lighting in his home. It's more efficient and cost effective; and like computers & i-Phones - it's simply better technology.

  – Andy
• 3.
  March 1, 2010
  2:41 pm

  It's surprising to try and understand why the interest & advancement of lighting technology hasn't caught on like all the other technological advancements in the 21st Century. Realizing that a simple upgrade of the lighting in your home has 2 positive impacts, financially & environmentally, why would you not switch out the old "heaters"?

  – Bryce
• 4.
  March 5, 2010
  1:36 pm

  Wow, so many smart posts. I just like the fact that I can save $$$$ :)

  – Chris
• 5.
  March 8, 2010
  12:49 pm

  The other gret thing bout using CFL's and LED's is that your home stays much cooler in summer...and the AC bills go down. Thanks Chris for the great posts.

  – Paul