Posts Tagged ‘energy saving lightbulb’

Making the switch!

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

How many light bulbs do you use regularly in your house? Including lamps? I just counted and I reckon I use 10 bubs for about 4 hours a day (we like mood lighting) and those figures go up substantially in the winter. Most of my bulbs were 100w bulbs and I pay about 10p per Kw/per hr for my electricity. I worked out that if I swapped my light bulbs for the equivalent energy efficient light bulbs, I would save over £120 per year. That is not to be sniffed at.

The cost of changing those 10 bulbs will give me plenty of change from £20 so what am I waiting for? I honestly don’t know. People are strange. I am writing this article to make me change my light bulbs – if I say I will do it that will make me do it. I have been meaning to for ages, but then the weekend comes and it gets put off, time and time again. But no more. This weekend is the weekend for me and some energy saving bulbs. I have already ordered them from the internet, they are in the post, I have no excuses left.

I wonder how many of you reading this are in the same boat. Keep on meaning to do it, but never finding the time? In the last couple of years when a light bulb has blown I’ve replaced it with an energy saving light bulb, but perhaps I am OCD, I just don’t like having a mixture, I want a pure-bulbed-house, not a mixture; it’ll be light bulb Apartheid around here this weekend.

But it is basic common sense – I will save money and I will help the environment, there is absolutely no reason for me not to do it and the fact that I haven’t yet has frustrated me to the point of writing about my frustrations. When I have spoken to my friends about this they all say the same thing “oh yeah, must get round to that.” I think it’s about time we just did it. This lethargy isn’t doing anyone any good.

We all want to help the world, we all want to ‘do our bit’ and we all want to save a little money, I can’t understand why it has taken me so long to change my bulbs. If you are like me, just make a promise to yourself and get it done.

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Low Energy Light Bulbs

Monday, September 6th, 2010

It’s important that we all play a part in trying to reduce our own carbon emissions.  Every little bit we do, even if it’s as simple as changing a light bulb contributes towards slowing down global warming and protecting our future.

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), more commonly referred to as an energy saving light bulb (ESB) is a type of fluorescent lamp. The energy saving light bulb has been created to substitute for the standard incandescent lamp that many people still use. They fit into exactly the same standard light fixtures as incandescent light bulbs so you needn’t have to spend on new fittings to accommodate them.

Energy saving bulbs emits the same amount of visible light but use less power to do so, plus they have a longer rated life. While the purchase price of an energy saving bulb is typically a more than that of an equivalent incandescent lamp, the extended lifetime and lower energy use will more than compensate for the higher initial cost. For example, energy saving bulbs can save approximately twenty pounds in electricity costs over the course of a year.  The average rated life of a these bulbs is up to 15 times more than that of an incandescent bulb. Energy saving bulbs typically have a rated lifespan of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually expected to have a lifespan of 750 hours or 1,000 hours.

So you see, making a small change like swapping the light bulbs throughout your home can have a positive impact on your pocket and the environment.

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Energy consumption

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Technology’s moved on a lot since energy saving lightbulbs were first invented, and so has the way they look.  Energy-saving light bulbs now come in all shapes and sizes.  Depending on how long your lights are in use every day, just one energy saving lightbulb could save you up to £7 and 26 kilograms of CO2 a year. As well as energy consumption, criteria for lightbulbs  also covers how long they should last, quality of light, packaging information and safety. Light bulb manufacturers include this information right on the product packaging to make it easy for consumers to choose the equivalent bulb.  Some jurisdictions have or are considering banning the sale of incandescent lightbulbs in favour of more energy efficient lighting.

Energy

There are now more good reasons than ever to buy energy saving lightbulbs. Energy saving light bulbs use a fifth to a quarter of the electricity of ordinary bulbs to generate the same amount of light.  In other words, they can help you to save money and energy, all in one wise purchase.  And by saving energy, you’ll be helping to fight climate change too.  Advances in technology mean that energy saving lightbulbs are now available in a wide variety of fittings, shapes and sizes.  In turn, using less energy like electricity means that our homes produce less carbon dioxide: one of the main causes of climate change.  Next time you need a bulb, buy an energy saving one.

Don’t stay in the dark. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an energy saving bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. Due to the higher energy usage of incandescent light bulbs in comparison to more energy efficient alternatives, like compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps, some governments have passed laws and regulations that have started to phase out their usage.

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