Made the switch to CFL's yesterday

[ZacFields]

CFL=Compact Flourescent Lamp, or "the little spirally light bulbs."

I made the switch yesterday on all the bulbs in my house that I was able to swap out. Unfortunately I need to buy special ones for my dining room because those lights are on a dimmer, and the ones in my bedroom are candleabra-type lights and have a smaller end on them than standard lights.

We've all heard the advantages of CFL's. No, they're not going to cut your energy use in half. So if you're going to fire back and say you won't use CFL's because they don't save that much money, I've heard that one before.

The fact of the matter is, that the average CFL bulb pays for itself in electricity savings in about 12 months. If you purchase the 8-pack from Sams Club like I did (for about 11 bucks) then it would only take you 6-9 months. But that's not really the reason I use them. Every CFL bulb (in its' 7 year lifetime) saves the amount of energy that would be produced by burning 1 ton of coal. It's a cheap and easy way to do your part in lowering electricity consumption. In fact, in California and Australia, there have been proposals with a lot of support that would effectively ban the sale of standard incandescent bulbs in those areas.

A lot of people say they're too dim... my response to that is: Phooey. They have CFL's equivilant up to a 100 watt incandescent bulb. So if the 60 watt equiv. is too dim for you, you always have the option of trying the 100 watt equiv.

Just a thought. Again, replacing all the bulbs in your house might save you a grand total of $5/month if you're lucky, but you're doing your part to keep greenhouse gases out of the environment, lowering our dependence on foreign oil, and all that razz..... and 5 bucks is 5 bucks!

Anyone else using CFL's these days?

Zac

[amoander]

In only use CFL's but they tend to be alittle brighter then you reg. bulbs, depending on what you buy, and she hates that. I don't know why, so we simply fight about it. She sais the yellow glow is more natural, but also in reality she is wrong.

[69gt4speed]

I've been using cfl's for yrs, one thing I can say some aren't worth a crap they do not last. The old ge's were good don't know about the new ones. Some of those felts are crapola last maybe a yr the 60watt equiv. Had them in my bathroom mirror light bar. At least w 6 one burn out isn't the end of the world. They do start in the cold though unlike some old ballast fluoro shop light. Shop lights the electronic ballast work ok when cold but seem to burn out if a surge.

Oh yea I might mention now we have different phosphor coatings besides cool white, in bathroom, warm white is better. They had those for the 40 watt tubes for 20+ yrs in fact many phosphor blends. for the cfl's cool white, daylight, and warm white are fairly common.

[fbodyguy]

I've used them for 6 years now and haven't replaced one yet. The only noticible difference is the time it takes for them to heat up and become bright. Mine usually take about a minute to have full intensity.

[ZacFields]

My favorite reason to have them is that since they use 75% less energy than standard bulbs, you don't have to worry so much about flipping the lights off everytime you leave the room. It's kind of a mental thing with me. When I was younger I was always taught to be a Nazi about turning off lights when they are not being used. When I moved out of my parents house I had lost that aspect of myself, but these last 2 months before I discovered CFL's I became a light Nazi once again.

So for me, it's the freedom from being a light Nazi all the time! hah.

But the environmental effects are probably the best reason to have them. That, and they save you a little cash. They say each light bulb should save you like $36 in their lifetime... so if you have 20 bulbs in your house, that's $720. Now, spread over 7 years that's not a ton of money, but it's still $720 no matter how long it takes to accumulate.

I guess I've been on this efficiency kick for a while too. My central air was installed in 1979 when they built my condo, so that sucker is horrible for power efficiency. Most people would be thrilled that their central air is that old and still works fine...but when I got a $215 bill in the mail from Alliant in July for a slightly-larger-than-apartment-sized Condo, I was pretty upset. I'm thinking about just biting the bullet next spring and using my tax return on a new central air system. I hear they're usually not horribly expensive if you've already got the ductwork. I just hope my ducts are sufficient enough not to need replacing, because it would kinda defeat the purpose of dropping a few grand on a more efficient system if my ducts are crappy and have holes all in them.

Zac

[ZacFields]

oh, and call me a cheap-skate, but it says on the back of the package that my CFL's came in that my GE CFL's have a warranty for 7 years, and that if any of them blow out, I just need to package them up and send them back with proof of purchase to get a replacement. I bet they don't count on a lot of people taking advantage of that, but I know I will. lol.

3 bucks is 3 bucks. I'm such a cheap ass.

Zac

[TbTalon94]

I just switched to them last week. The 60watt's are definatly a tad dimmer then incondescent 60watts but it doesn't bother me. I'd rather have a little dimmer light anyway. My house is pretty efficient as it is, since everything was updated. The central air is only a few years old, just upgraded to energy efficient windows, etc. etc. I had my air set at 70* all summer and my highest electric bill was $175 i think. With 2,000sqft. I think that's pretty good. Compared to my brother's house (almost 3,000sqft) his electric bill is almost $300. He also runs a lot of shit though lol.

[slobalt]

yep, started using those when I bought my first house. From 2000 till I moved out I can't remember changing any of those out. The only ones I remember changing are those big decorative ones above the mirrors in the Master Bath. About every 2 months or so one would go out and need replaceing.

The previous owners of this house have already placed CFL's throughout the house so no need to change any yet. The only thing I have against these bulbs is that half second it takes for it to light after you hit the switch. I just leave the light on in the common areas to avoid that.

I think I only used the air conditioner once this past summer, largest electric bill so far has been 138.

[tylers88]

my parent have them in the resest light we have in our kitchen there kinda differant there like a big flood light with one in side but are alot purer white so it doesnt screw with the color of the walls as much as the other lights did, there almost like a purer blue now i think.

[DustinsDuster]

how much to CFL's cost anyway?

ive never even thought about switching to them, but now that im going to be moving into a house, it sounds like a neat idea.

[ZacFields]

If you have a Sams Club membership, you can get an 8-pack for about $12, in which case you're talking about around $1.50 per light. They're considered 'expensive' compared to standard incandescents, but it only seems that way to some people. To me, I see somewhat of an investment, which pays me back in the form of energy savings, thus effectively making the lights free.

I think if you go to walmart, you can get a 4-pack for about $12, which is still pretty good.

Also, it's worth mentioning that if you send your receipt for the lights to Alliant Energy, they will give you up to a $2.00 rebate per bulb, not to exceed 50% of the cost of the bulb.

On that same note, to all you homeowners, you need to check with Alliant before doing ANYTHING to your home involving saving electricity. Did you know Alliant will give you $50 for buying an energy star refrigerator? Or up to $500 for installing an energy star central air system? Almost everything you can buy for your home that's "energy star" will get you at least some rebate from Alliant. If you need help finding this information, let me know and I'll post up a link.

Zac

[Drifte]

I think its comedy my 700w receiver has an energy star on it...its completely unnecessary...oh well lets see what CFU will put up. I have all CFL bulbs around here, i really like the white lights. Ive always run these tho, so I really notice nothing from old ones...cuz ive never used them. I flipped on my under shelf light at work and realized how amber/yellow old school florescent can be tho.

[ZacFields]

It really amazes me that so many people actually use CFL's. I was honestly expecting there to be nearly nobody using CFL's except for me. I envisioned about 20 responses from people saying they would never use CFL lights because it'll only save them a few dollars a month. The way I see it, however, any way to save money is worth it.

Hell, I would change car insurance companies if it saved me $5 a month. It's all these little things that add up. In the last 2 months, Ashley and I have done the following things to save money:

1. Moved CR:U/IAF to shared hosting, savings of $68/month
2. Switched to progressive insurance from geico/state farm, savings of $100/month
3. Closed down two websites/hosting that I owned, savings of $20/month
4. Set both our computers to hibernate after 15 minutes of inactivity, savings of $5/month
5. Installed CFL lights in all fixtures, savings of $5/month
6. Utilized a discount through Ashley's work for our Verizon cell phone plan, savings of $40/month
7. Started planning our meals, rather than just grocery shopping for "what looks good", savings of about $25/month
8. Stopped eating fast food, savings of about $30/month
Total is: $293/month

These were just 8 of the more major things we did. We're also doing a lot of things that are harder to measure, like me driving my motorcycle to work everyday, trying to compress our driving trips, opening windows more and using the central air less. My electricity bill this month is the lowest that it has ever been ($68.00).

Just an idea for those of you who think life can't get any less expensive than it already is. Every little bit helps. In reality, Ash and I are probably saving more like $350-$400 with all the other little things. Simple small lifestyle changes that don't affect our quality of life, but just make it a lot cheaper :)

Zac

[ZEE]

COnsidering they have murcury in them and your not supposed to throw them in the garbage. Familys have been spending years trying to keep lead and murcury away from there kids and now everybody wants to put a potentially hazardous element just a broken light bulb away.

http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/homeowner/fluorescent.htm

[ZacFields]

I had a feeling I would see some pessimism from you on this subject as well. Did you research deeply enough to see that the biggest source of mercury emissions is coal burning plants? Yes, that place where your electricity comes from. CFL bulbs actually save far more mercury than they contain inside of them.

And in addition, there are many other household items that contain mercury such as thermometers, and the biggie: Fish.

People have used that argument for a while now, but it's just not solid. Don't break the bulbs, and follow proper instructions for cleanup if you do.

*Edit* Found a good link on the subject:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05 ... ger_14.php (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/ask_treehugger_14.php)


Zac

[ZEE]

I don't have a coal burning plant in my living room. in a closed environment.:) I don't really care whether they're used or not. I can't fit them in most of my fixtures anyways.

[ZacFields]

i had a little trouble fitting them into my lamps in my living room. That's a downside is that they're a good bit longer than standard bulbs so you run into that sometimes.

The mercury problem is basically a non-issue to the household. Your kid could break one and inhale some mercury....or he could accidentally drink some bleach thinking it was lemonade, etc. I was just saying that as far as mercury in our atmosphere, it's better to have 5mg of it in your light bulbs and be saving much much more of it from being burned in the plants.

I broke one last week, by the way. I bought a cheap brand and I was holding it and I squeezed it a little too hard. Broke right in my hand. Not sure if that's a big deal or not. I don't know a lot about mercury.

Zac

[Drifte]

I work for the center for energy an environmental education. Before that I worked with them in the Iowa Electrathon. I can tell you all kinds of neat stuff, but theirs always other ways to try something. My apt is about the size of your place zac, My utilities come to a grand total of $35. My civic gets 30mpg, and we save mney by having a garden. Its my parents garden...but I worked hard to earn some stuff outa it. So theirs some minor savings. Pretty soon I will be putting out the model wind power generator. Currently you can buy our solar power model car for $15 if you'd like...not really for people our age tho, more like junior high age. All of these generate actual power to teach kids hands on what we can do. I have to call clipper on monday to see if I can get some more funding though for the wind power model. I will try to work with Acciona as well, considering my dad is one of their head guys I should be able to get something outa them, if only a tour than fine.
Thing is, if you know what is currently happening to our earth, you would realize were to the point where people about our age, should'nt bother having kids! Soil erosion, waste, natural oil, globing warming, WATER. We're running out of all of it faster than 90% of the population realizes. Their are more people on earth TODAY than their ever were in history total, so im told.

Basically to save earth, we needed to all be driving electric/solar cars, 10 years ago. :Hangman:

[ZacFields]

You're thinking like me, Colton :) I'm not really one of those environmentalists, as I'll admit that most of my interest in converving energy has to do with money and the economy. But often, whether you're thinking financially or environmentally, there is usually a neutral zone where you're both trying to achieve the same things. If we run out of oil and we're still dependant on it, then oil will be expensive. I can foresee people willingly paying $11 per gallon .... spending several hunred dollars to fill up their tank and still saying shit like "eh, I can afford it. So what does it matter?"

People right now are too caught up in the "It's not so bad" phase of rising prices. There's the initial scare when it first jumps that pisses everybody off, and then when prices remain fairly constant for a while people go into the "its not so bad" phase, and they don't care about it during that time. Then when energy prices jump again everyone will go back to being scared until they level out again.

You'll have to help me figure out how it is you're able to only pay $35 for utilities. Do you pay for all of them? Like I said before, my electricity bill this month was as cheap as its ever been at $68, and that's using nothing but my lights and the computers and stuff, as I didn't have the central air running at all last month. I can't imagine another way. My refrigerator needs to be replaced, and I hear I could probably save about $10/month on electricity if I replace it since my fridge was made in 1979. Other than that, all that runs in my house pretty much is my 2 computers, and my LCD TV. Not sure there's too much room for improvement there. We already saved a little by keeping our computers turned off when we're not in the room by having them hibernate after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Any other tips, let me know. I couldn't imagine there being a way I could get it down to 35 but it might be possible.

Zac

[Drifte]

Well when picking out my apt I was thinking of utility costs. I no longer have to pay water or sewage. But my apt is built half way underground. So Its superbly insulated. I went around, sealed windows etc. I have a brand new air conditioner, but never need to run it. I have only my laptop running, the other computers are always off. For winter I maintain 68deg temp, for summer more like 70. I just try to let it maintain one temp, never shutting it off, or tweaking. printer/scanner all off. I have a lot of stuff run off of switched outlets, so nothings internal battery etc is running.

thats probly about it...

[ZacFields]

Well I need to invest in some of those power strips that shut off the power to things when they're not in use. I think they're like $30 a piece, but they say each one pays for itself within a year if you have everything plugged into it. It basically shuts off the power to your electronics when they're turned off, rather than just leaving the connection open and allowing the electronics to seep power out like in the form of a blinking LED that lights up even when something is turned off, or internal operations that keep going when something is turned off. That could probably lower my utility bill quite a bit, considering when I add everything up in my house, I shouldn't be paying more than $30 or $40 for electricity in the months of September, October, and November when I don't have my central air going. The rest of that has got to be electric seepage from all my electronics that are using power even when they're turned off.

Zac