Energy Conservation Tip
Probably quite a few of you are already doing this, but I thought I would pass it on for others to consider. If you want to save substantial money over time, swap out your standard incandescent bulbs for some of the spiral compact flourescents. The initial price of the bulbs is high, but if you check around periodically you can find them at reasonable prices at SAM's, Home Depot, etc. They usually have 5 year warranties and they last many times longer than standard bulbs, so you come out OK on bulb costs. I swapped my high use bulbs out 9 months ago. One 3 pack of the bulbs failed within a few days...some sort of electronics defect since they all came from the same pack so I took those back for swap out. No failures since then with the ~20 bulbs I now have in service.
The big savings is in electricity use. The standard incandescent bulb wastes most of its electricity in the form of heat emissions rather than light. A 26 W spiral compact fluorescent emits about as much light as a 100 W standard bulb, while a 13 W spiral emits about as much as a 60 W standard bulb. Current electric prices around here are near 12 cents per KWH. Over the calculated life of the bulb a 26 W (100 W equivalent) spiral will save $71 -- per bulb. A 13 W will save about $45 -- per bulb. With the mix of ~20 bulbs I now have in service I expect to save nearly $1,200 over their lifetimes, assuming electricity prices don't double again (as they have over the past few years.)
There is a secondary benefit: reductions in air conditioning cost (and improvement in temperature uniformity in some rooms.) It is more difficult to quantify this and dependent on many factors. Based on some coefficients of performance for air con units in real world service I'm coming up with about half as much electrical savings as from the lighting savings--but only during air conditioning periods (summer months.) So where I live this would work out to be about 1/4 of the lighting cost reduction. It would be less farther north.
On that secondary benefit, the cooling effect/comfort level in a PC room is substantial. A modern PC and 19, 21 or 22" monitor put out a lot of heat on their own, probably 300+ W's during normal use, more at peak loads. As we all know, the room can get pretty toasty compared to the rest of the house, especially if one has multiple PC's. However, I also like plenty of light in my study since I do a lot of reading, calculating and researching, so swapping out the standard bulbs for the spiral fluorescents makes a big difference in the comfort level of the room.
A third benefit that I nearly forgot: I've been able to use higher luminescence but lower wattage bulbs in some enclosures. For example some lighting fixtures are limited to 40 or 60 W bulbs, because anything greater will overheat the fixture and risk a fire. With the spiral compact fluorescents I can put a 26 W (100 W equivalent) bulb in there, without the overheating problem. That isn't something I've seen on the package...so take this bit of info at your own risk. I'm not an *electrical* engineer, nor an electrician. Considering the total wattage is less, I believe this is still a conservative move (safety wise), but there could be an unintended consequence of which I am presently unaware.
Negatives? They don't work in dimmer mode, since they are either off or on. The hue of the light is slightly different and seems to be slightly dimmer than the "equivalent" 100 or 60 W bulb. Neither have been bothersome to me. (It isn't that "institutional" cold blue light effect.) The less rounded shape of the larger 100 W equivalent bulbs makes them a bit tighter fit in some fixtures.
UNRELATED Recommendation: Cut back on outdoor lighting. 90% of it is simply a waste. Dusk to dawn lighting is my arch nemesis as an amateur astronomer, as much of it simply projects unwanted light into the night sky. When flocks of birds fly over the city at night they look like someone painted their bellies in day glow colors--really odd. If you want security lighting, consider motion detector triggered lights, so that they turn on when you really want them on. Also, buy full cut off fixtures: ones that don't send light *upward* or parallel to the ground. Light sent out sideways only dazzles the eyes, and hampers the ability of people to actually see. (I enjoy demonstrating this at times by showing how a mock mugger/thief can work the resultant harsh shadows better than with no lighting at all. They see you, but you can't see them if they know what they are doing. Stealth can be fun...)
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Originally Posted by Xiahou
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