Energy saving light bulbs

Consumers have more options when shopping for light bulbs for their home. Switching from traditional light bulbs (incandescent) to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) is an effective, simple change everyone can make right now. Making this change will help to use less electricity at home and prevent greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global climate change. Lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of the average home's electric bill.

ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs use up to 75 percent less electricity than incandescent light bulbs, last up to 10 times longer, cost little up front, and provide a quick return on investment. The ENERGY STAR designation is the same as is used on household appliances to indicate energy efficient products.

If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. That would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars.

According to Kansas State University's Engineering Extension, cost-conscious consumers can save money and energy, and not have to replace bulbs so often. A standard, 60-watt lamp lasts only about 1000 hours. A 15-watt compact fluorescent lamp with the same light output will last more than 10,0000 hours and use much less electricity. To get 10,000 hours of use from a standard incandescent lamp, it would take 10 light bulbs at about 50 cents each that would consume more than $40 in electricity, a total cost of more than $45. Buy using a compact fluorescent, the lamp cost might be $10, but it would use only about $10 worth of energy for a total cost of $20.

A compact, screw-in fluorescent bulb can give the same light as a comparable incandescent bulb, yet not generate the heat associated with incandescent bulbs, according to Bruce Snead, K-State Research and Extension residential energy engineering specialist.

The energy-saving fluorescents carry a lower wattage rating, though. Consumers should read labels to become more familiar with the new bulbs' capacity.

A compact fluorescent bulb rated at about 900 lumens, for example, is comparable to a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

The label on a CFL also provides a color/rendering index from 0-100. A rating of 80 should have good color quality.

Fluorescent bulbs are available with varying base sizes. So, buyers should check that, too, to ensure the bulb they buy will fit in the intended socket.

CFLs may not be the best choice for every use. One exception might be the lights activated by a garage door opener. Compact fluorescents typically warm up to reach capacity, so may not offer the immediate light needed to enter a garage safely.

CFLs will result in les mercury in the environment compared to traditional light bulbs. Coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury emissions in the air because mercury that naturally exists in coal is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity. The use of CFLs reduces power demand, which helps reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

Because CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury, read label directions for disposing of them and for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb.

Editor's Note: Ann Ludlum is a K-State Research and Extension family and consumer sciences and 4-H extension agent assigned to Bourbon County. She may be reached at (620) 223-3720 or aludlum@ksu.edu.