My attempt at being environmentally friendly, day 2
So after being inspired to reduce my energy usage, I took a look at buying Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) for my apartment.
CFLs are recently becoming popular in home lighting, and can provide substantial energy savings over their lifetime. They can replace almost all of your existing light bulbs in your house.
CFLs:
- Use 2/3 the energy of normal bulbs
- Last up to 10 times longer
- Generate up to 70% less heat
They do come at a higher initial cost. However, as I was shopping for CFLs at Home Depot, I noticed coupons from Puget Sound Energy for $2 off (small) and $3 off (large) per bulb, limit of 8 of each size. That saved me (8 * $2 + 8 * $3) = $40 in bulbs, so I retrofitted my entire apartment, 16 bulbs for $32!
After replacing all of the bulbs in my apartment, I am quite happy. Their lighting output is the same (to the naked eye) as the old bulbs. The energy savings are substantial. Before and after wattages (verified with the Kill-A-Watt):
- 1x floor lamp – 140W before, 21W with CFLs
- 1x night stand lamp – 90W before, 14W with CFLs (60W equivalent)
- 3x bathroom mirror lights – 60W before, 14W with CFLs
- 4x dome lights – 60W before, 14W with CFLs
- 6x track lights – 60W before, 14W with CFLs
- Total: 1010W before, 217W with CFLs
PSE charges me about $0.06841 per kWh. (not that I do), but if I ran all of these lights 24/7, I would be spending (1010W * 24 h * 30 days * 0.06841) = $49.73 / mo. With CFLs, this is reduced to (216 W * 24 h * 30 days * 0.06841) = $10.63 / mo. So while that isn’t realistic, as I don’t have all my lights on all of the time, I’m probably saving a few dollars a month.
Cool stuff!
We buy these light bulbs too, at least we are trying them out. However, it is a little known, ironic fact that they contain mercury, and are to be treated as toxic waste for disposal. This also brings into question how well controlled are the toxins in the manufacturing process, and what about worker exposure to mercury? Mercury is a serious problem in the environment already, as coal fire emissions, that permeate our waters. Clouds of polluted air waft across the Pacific and contaminate The Great Northwest and beyond from China, that burns large amounts of coal to support their exponential economic growth. If everyone uses these light bulbs, will the mercury introduced into the environment off-set the reduced need to burn coal for energy?