The Task: To (finally) switch our incandescent light bulbs out for energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)
The Why: It's kind of embarrassing that here we are on day fifty-eight of this journey doing the first thing most people do when they want to decrease their energy consumption.
When the CFLs first came out we did buy a box of them with a 50% off coupon and replaced three light bulbs in the house. That was about all we could afford that day, so we figured we'd switch the rest out over time and it just never happened.
Incandescent light bulbs are notoriously inefficient. I've read many times that they release 90% of the electricity consumed as heat and only 10% as light! Plus, they burn out more often, which means more manufacturing, more packaging to end up in landfills, and more fuel needed to ship them to our local stores.
So this weekend we had some light bulbs than needed replacing, a reasonably fresh paycheck still partially unspent, and great sale at a nearby hardware store. It seemed like a good time to upgrade.
The How: We replaced most of our lights with CFLs. There is one light above the bathtub that we leave on at night as a sort of nightlight (we live in the country and there are no street lights outside, so we would literally be walking into walls on our way to the bathroom if we didn't leave some sort of light on!) so we splurged and switched that one out for an LED that uses only 4 watts of electricity. Now I can feel so much better about leaving that light on all night!
There are two lights in the master bedroom that are on dimmers, and dimmable CFL's weren't on sale this week, and we aren't bazillionaires, so we're going to wait for the mega expensive dimmable CFL's to go on sale before making that last upgrade.
The Verdict: I added up the watts of our before bulbs and after bulbs. Before making the switch we had 1546 watts of light in our house. Now we have a total of 413 watts of light!
Plus, we did the math, and if these bulbs really last the 6 or 7 years they are supposed to, compared to the old lights that needed to be replaced approximately twice a year, we are actually spending less on light bulbs, albeit, all at once. So the situation feels kind of win-win.
We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!
It's the little things that people do that make the difference! We switched out the majority of our lights with CFLs when we bought our home. There are some specialty ceiling fans that were already installed when we moved in, and we're actually considering changing out the ceiling fans so they'll take the regular CFLs instead of the fancy ones that cost twice as much or more (cheaper in the long run?). We have all CFLs in our upstairs, and we haven't needed to replace one since January of 2011. I never calculated the amount of watts we were saving by switching to the CFLs. Maybe I'll do that tonight!
ReplyDeleteHow funny that you post this today!
ReplyDeleteWe are moving into a new house next month and I was JUST making a tally on how many light bulbs well need to replace! It's an old house and we need to save energy any way we can :)
God bless!
Our Front Porch View: The Story of a Young Families Pursuit to Fulfill a Simpler Life
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The LED are actually better for you and the environment as they do not have the mercury.
ReplyDeleteAnd they last longer and use less electricity. I've read that the LED lightbulb technology is really taking off right now and we can expect them to come down in price over the next few years. Which is good...because right now they are really quite expensive!
DeleteI hope this isn't out of line but I feel compelled to share my experience with CFLs. I made the switch and ended up with brain fog, nausea and basic illness. I then saw a special on the CBC and found out they have unfiltered UV light. For people like me with lupus this is crippling. We have to avoid too much sun and always apply sunscreen before going outside. The special showed a woman who'd been sitting beside a lamp with CFLs and within an hour she had burns all over the side of her face. Now people without auto immune problems, specificly lupus, may be OK but a full day of unfiltered UV is not a great thing. I wouldn't share this without the personal experience and the CBC is a reputable source. CFLs really need to be researched before you expose yourself. Take care, Deb Groom
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience, Deborah. I think it's probably inadvisable to be spending large amounts of time under ANY artificial light. Health issues or not, we should probably all throw open the drapes a little more often and avoid using electric light when it isn't needed!
DeleteI don't have any auto immune problems or disease, BUT fluorescent lights give me a headache! (I've heard that's common.) Just walking into certain mall-type stores can give me an instant tremendous headache. I'm dreading the day when I cannot buy incandescent bulbs.
DeleteI certainly relate to the headaches from fluorescent lights. Even in my early 20s before I developed lupus those lights were a problem. I tried working in an office with these lights and ended up feeling light headed and disoriented. Thankfully I went back to school and got out of the environment. It was expensive to get rid of the CFLs but it made a huge difference.
DeleteThanks Kelly for the reminder to turn off the lights and let the sun shine in. :)
I am not impressed in general with CFL's. In my experience, they just cost more, but need to be replaced almost as often as the old lightbulbs. We've had two burn holes in the plastic bottom part and ruin light sockets as a result. I don't know if it's partly a result of living in an ancient house with out-dated electrical or what, but I'm unconvinced that it's been worth it for us to switch.
ReplyDeleteHmm, that's interesting that you find yours needed to be replaced just as often. All 3 from that first box we bought YEARS ago are still working fine.
DeleteI agree. Maybe it is because I have teenagers upstairs using the Wii, but we've only lived in our house for three years and I think we've replaced every CFL twice.
DeleteI'm another CFL hater. The light they emit is SO hard on the eyes. And it makes our "awesome" 70's linoleum glow green when it's really a golden yellow. Ew. Anyway, the last nail in the coffin for CFL's is that they are actually incredibly toxic. If you ever break one, it's super super bad for you. They are full of mercury and are supposed to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Tell me how THAT is environmentally friendly.
ReplyDeleteBesides, you know all that heat that regular light bulbs throw off? Well, that's less heating costs for you. So, I think it all evens out in the end.
I totally agree. I switched my house a few years ago and will never buy another one. I am scared to death of one breaking in my house (one did once, talk about anxiety for me). I also don't want to throw them away once they burn out since that would be sending mercury into the land fill and that is just horrible for everyone. They really didn't last as long as the box claimed and I never saw a difference in my electricity bill. Now I have a ton of them sitting on a shelf waiting for me to find a safe way to dispose of them. I always wonder if everyone else is just throwing them in the regular garbage can polluting the environment because they don't know any different. I will never purchase these toxic and dangerous light bulbs again and really don't think they should be advertised as helping the environment in any way! In a home with children where light bulbs have a clear chance of breaking every now and then it is just not worth it.
DeleteMy problem is that the cfl's aren't as bright...and I can't see as well...and the light is very harsh...I have bought incandescent bulbs to store so that I'll be able to continue to SEE! Plus cfl's are all made in China!
DeleteMy daughter has nystagmus which is triggered by these bulbs. Heard recently that in the near future incandescent bulbs will not be made anymore due to their inefficiency. I really hope that's not the case, for my daughters sake.
ReplyDeleteWow, so many interesting thoughts here. I'm loving the comments as much as what you wrote! As always, Kelly, thanks for such an informative post.
ReplyDeleteI too, do not like the CFLs. We tried them a couple years ago. I hate the light they throw, which in my kitchen is a putrid greenish glow. We have gone through numerous bulbs in the one room in our house that we do use them in (bathroom), so I do not buy the claims of them lasting longer. The reason we use them in our tiny bathroom is because they do not throw the heat that incandescents throw, which is our goal. And we did not see any savings on our electric bill.
ReplyDeleteI have stockpiled incandescent bulbs, just in case they are not available in the future. Hoping that turns out to not be the case.
Wishing you a best of luck in your simplicity venture, Kelly!
I see by some of the comments that you already have some folks sharing the problems they've had with CFL bulbs. I wanted to send you some links along those lines. I definitely understand your desire to save money, but I also know you're health-conscious and may not be aware of potential issues that CFLs have. I want you to know as well that this is not meant to be a slam or attack on your choice, but as a "FYI, in case you were unaware and would want to be" kind of info. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.naturalnews.com/032451_CFLs_cancer.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/022166_light_bulbs_technology_news.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028034_mercury_compact_fluorescent_lights.html
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/05/06/understanding-the-dangers-of-compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs/
And one on LED bulbs: http://www.naturalnews.com/032020_eco-friendly_bulbs_toxic_chemicals.html
Blessings!
Fluorescent light bulbs are proven to cause blood sugar spikes. The use less electricity but give off dirty electricity. Be sure about your choice. We recently built a new house. The stuff I found about different bulbs was amazing. And our electrician had some amazing things to say.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of hoopla about saving electricity, but there are pros and cons in every direction. Just be sure you are ok with the cons you choose.
My husband and I slowly replaced all of our bulbs with LEDs. We wanted to save on our bill, but we didn't want to risk buying CFLs with all of the health and environmental concerns that they present. I know that they use less energy which makes them "environmentally friendly" but because they contain mercury, I feel that they are actually very harmful to the environment. So far, we have been extremely happy with the LEDs! They provide great light and I don't feel like I have to worry if one breaks. Even better, they last about 20 years! I love your blog and really admire all of the changes you are making! It is so inspiring to me! :) I completely understand that the LEDs are more expensive but I feel that it has been so worth it! And we bought ours at Costco for $15 each! That is less than a dollar a year if they last 20 years! I felt like that was a pretty good deal. Plus, when we move we plan on taking them with us! Anyhow, I'm not trying to be rude (I just wanted to share my positive experience with LEDs) but I would encourage you to look into LEDs. We love them! :)
ReplyDeleteAll the replies have confirmed my thoughts about getting rid of the CFLs that I bought. I too find that many of them need replacing very often. I am a single mom and it will take time but I will get the LED's as I can!
ReplyDeleteWe have used CFL's for years without any noticeable health differences. I know that they have come a long way and have more "natural" feeling CFL's now. I did find they didn't work well in our bathroom, with the constant on and off and moisture they didn't last very long. So far the price for energy savings hasn't made LED's practical for us, although our nightlights are LED and they are AWESOME! I've been very pleased with CFL's and when they do go out, our local PUD offers a free exchange program.
ReplyDeleteSo far I haven' had a single CFL fail on me, the only one that did was because I dropped it while I was removing it to remove a lampsahde I wanted to wash.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love with CFLs now compared to a few years back is that you have the option of a warm yellow light instead of the just the sharp hospital like white it used to exclusively come up in.
Incadescent lights blow all the time with the crazy power surge we get around here, not economically sound at all.
I say everyone should just switch to beeswax candles. :) I would choose this option if I wasn't scared of fire and an extreme klutz, but for my family we'll be sticking with regular old light bulbs. And one way to keep them from going into landfills (if that's a concern because of them burning out so often)is to make them into cute Christmas ornaments and sell them on Etsy, not that I do this, but I would if we went through a lot of light bulbs, we don't though. In two years I think we've replaced 3 light bulbs, and we have a total of 9 lights that we use in our house. This issue is honestly just silly to me. And sorry for rambling, long night.
ReplyDeleteBought new house in 1996. First 'old kind' bulbs began burning out in 2004. Began replacing with CFLs. Have replaced each 3X. Back to incandescents & since I'm OTD should last me!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post - and apparently (from reading the comments), somewhat controversial. So I thought I'd add my little comment, ahem.
Well I think CFLs are awesome. My parents were using them for their outdoor light back in the 70s when they first became available, and every place I've ever lived I've upgraded the house and left CFLs there (as a student who moved every 12 months for 6 years, thats a lot of house - but I felt I was doing 'my bit' for the environment). In the UK you can no longer by standard incandescent bulbs, just special fitting ones. However, I have heard of the problem people who have lupus have and that is not good. I'm hoping the LED revolution will solve that. As a physicist I think energy and lighting is a fascinating problem. In case anyone is interested here is a little more info on a few specific comments:
1. With respect to your comment on dimmable bulbs, I'd hold off for now (and I love CFLs). A few years ago I lived in flat that had dimmable bulbs but the CFL ones were just useless. The technology might have been improved, but I wouldn't rush out without testing some in a shop first if that is possible.
2. In terms of bulbs breaking quickly, the 7 year lifespan is a 'mean time to failure'. i.e. if you had 1000 of the them the average age would be 7 yrs. Some will last no more than a minute, some will last far far longer. My parents still have a bulb from 1983 that gets turned on every single night!
3. With headaches, I personally haven't experienced this, but I do get headaches in places where they have the large tubes, like along corridors at work. I believe this is because the lights actually 'strobe' so they are essentially constantly flickering, which your eye can't detect but your brain can. It is the same thing that causes headaches when you watch a 3D movie (those are nasty nasty headaches for me). Using CFLs that don't have a 'starter' helps with this, i.e. not the long tubes. I *think* these don't strobe in the same way.
4. Disposal/breakage. I've never had one of these break, though I have broken my fair share of incandescent bulbs because the glass seems so fragile. They are toxic, though their toxicity is something that manufacturers are trying to reduce. In the UK you should take these to a recycling scheme to dispose of, not sure about the rest of the world. However, I would treat them with the same respect I would an incandescent bulb with shards of glass. Be careful! Its no worse than a broken mercury thermometer.
Hope that helps someone x x
There isn't such thing as "THE" CFL bulb. Their quality varies according to manufacturer and technology improves overtime. First CFLs we had were really annoying because they took a while to "warm up" to their proper brightness. However, the new ones we got recently are excellent - no long warm up time and pleasant colour.
ReplyDeleteincandescents emit continues radiation, while `CFLs emit radiation as closely spaced lines (hence different impression they make), but work is being done to make the light from the look as pleasant as from incandescents. There's no conspiracy, it is just newer technology that had some teething problems.
In case it helps inform anyone about safety concerns have a read of:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/cfl-afc-eng.php
halfway down is the comment:
"While mercury is a highly toxic substance, only a very small amount is used in a CFL, about the amount to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. There is no risk to your health when the lamps are unbroken. Even when a CFL is broken, there is a very low risk to your health, unless you mishandle it or store it carelessly."
I agree with "Anonymous" about the dimmable CFLs. We had a dimmer switch installed in our kitchen (which has six recessed can lights so uses flood light bulbs) and tried the dimmable CFLs out. But when you put them as low as you could on the dimmer they were still more bright than regular un-dimmed 75W incandescents which defeated the whole purpose of the dimmer for us.
ReplyDeleteI've used CFLs in a variety of fixtures in both my last house and my present one. I have not had a single CFL last more than a year, and many of them failed within 3-6 months while I've had many incandescent bulbs last far longer. The CFLs have been different brands and from different sources - our electric company periodically sends us a free kit with a few of them too. When they first sent them out about 3 years ago I looked up online where we could dispose of them safely (we have local recycling but they don't take any fluorescent bulbs) - the nearest place was a 1.5 hour drive from me. Definitely use more gas to dispose of them than any energy savings they'd give me! I know that Home Depot now takes fluorescent bulbs for recycling but haven't checked on the CFLs specifically; I assume so. The power company, when asked, told us to just wrap them up and put them in the regular garbage!
ReplyDeleteI have found that they don't last longer, they just cost more...and the lighting is not good in a lot of cases....not impressed with them at all....soon will be sitting in the dark as probably wont be able to afford to replace them anyway
ReplyDeleteWe have some cheap fixtures in our basement that CFL floods don't seem to last in. The fixture seems to get hot even though they are the correct bulb.............consider the best fixture you can afford when purchasing fixtures in the first place!
ReplyDeleteIn our last house, I had CFL in all the fixtures with the exception of the 'Hollywood' style make up lights on my bathroom mirror and the 2 small enclosed fixtures. I even had outdoor CFL lamps. The local utility company looked at our electric usage and said there wasn't anything else I could do to reduce energy usage. However, I bought the full spectrum bulbs that started at $40 each when I first started buying them in the mid 90's. I had no problems with them at all. In fact, I still have a couple that are going strong. The CFL's I have had problems with are the ones I have bought in the last few years that don't seem to be as well made as those original ones.
ReplyDeleteWhen we move into our new house at the end of the year, I plan on slowly replacing all the lights with LED's for a couple of reasons. The first is that we will be totally off the grid solar with a back up generator for when we have multiple cloudy days (and for the 1000 foot well). I also like the clean clear light of them for reading and quilting. A side benefit is that I won't have to change them again in my lifetime. ;-)