Lighten Up With Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs

Enlarge Image Image Gallery If you want to find energy-efficient light bulbs, you’ll need to understand the basics of LED lights and CFL bulbs, presented in this article. After you’ve upgraded your lighting, check out the other great energy-saving ideas in “The Energy Smart House” by the editors of “Fine Homebuilding.” Written by builders and every experts from all over the country, this book details the methods, materials and technology you’ll need to make your home as energy efficient as possible.   COVER: THE TAUNTON PRESS

Energy efficiency begins at home, which can often be improved easily with the right knowledge, tools and materials. This excerpt comes from The Energy-Smart House (Taunton Press, 2011) is a collection of articles on how to reduce the amount of energy your home uses, from installing energy-efficient light bulbs to insulation and windows. The following is adapted from Part 5, “Lighting and Appliances.”  

Although still a relatively small slice of the incandescent-dominated lighting market, energy-efficient compact fluorescents (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have gained traction over the past few years, thanks to green-building programs and some progressive local energy codes.  

Be sure and look at the Efficacy at a Glance and Sources boxes (in the Image Gallery) for even more information on energy-efficient light bulbs and where to buy them. 

CFLs Come of Age 

CFLs were introduced in the early 1990s, but they weren’t ready for prime time. Early CFLs produced harsh blue light, hummed, and flickered, making a poor first impression. Today’s CFLs, however, produce light at around 2,700 degrees Kelvin (the measurement of light hue), mimicking the warm, amber-hued light of incandescent bulbs. Also, the old magnetic ballasts have been replaced with quiet electronic ballasts that don’t flicker. 

CFLs are dramatically more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, using between 50 percent and 80 percent less energy, and they last for about 10,000 hours, nearly 10 times longer than incandescents. They also cost dramatically more. However, replacing one 50 cents, 75-watt incandescent bulb with a $3.50, 19-watt CFL saves 563 kwh of electricity over the life of the bulb. That comes to about $75 in savings, depending on the cost of electricity where you live.  

On the downside, a typical CFL contains somewhere between 4 mg and 5 mg of mercury. Critics of CFLs highlight the health and environmental hazards of mercury, and special precautions should be taken if the bulbs break in your house. Proponents argue that the mercury in a CFL is far less than the amount of mercury emissions that would be released from a coal-fired power plant if you were using an incandescent bulb. Regardless, when a CFL burns out, it must be recycled so that the mercury doesn’t end up polluting the environment. Some retailers of CFLs, including Ikea and The Home Depot, offer CFL recycling. To find other recycling locations, visit the EPA website.