Apparently, in the U.S, Green labelling of products is turning people off purchasing energy efficient lightbulbs - there is even a political "save the incandescent light" lobby! A study has found that many consumers would rather buy an incandescent lightbulb than a cheaper-to-run energy saving equivalent - clearly "Green" is still not cool in the U.S.
I thought I'd share some thoughts on this. In the photo below from left to right:
1) Old style incandescent bulb: These are only about 5% efficient! The design has not changed in about 120 years. Really, honestly and truly, get rid of these if you have them - most of the electrical energy is converted to heat.
2) Incandescent halogen (GU10): About 15-45% efficient. The filaments last longer as the halogen gas deposits tungsten back onto the filament which prevents it getting weaker over time. They also reach a higher temperature and are brighter than standard incandescent. Tall people watch your heads, especially if you're bald - I really have seen a scalded scalp from someone standing on a chair whose head touched a halogen downlighter!
3) and 4) CFL Lighting. These use about a fifth of the power of a standard incandescent lightbulbs. Their efficiency more than makes up for their purchase cost over time. The tubular ones (4) are a bit more efficient. When these were first introduced people were put off by the long warm up time and the very harsh colour - more modern ones have addressed these issues. They contain mercury - a tiny miniscule amount - nonetheless, they should be recycled. If you break one then do some sensible stuff like ventilate the room, keep pets and children away until it's all cleaned up and discard any clothing that may have been contaminated.
5) LED (GU10) - these use about 90% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb! They're cold to touch. They're expensive but coming down in price. If you upgrade to these then consider the lumens rating; as a rough guide you need about 150 lumens per square meter (for general domestic illumination). They last up to 25,000 hours possibly more. As they don't get hot they are inherently so much safer - especially when installed in downlighters in ceiling voids/lofts.
If you read this far then thank you! Check out this really cool website:
Light Bulb Savings Calculator
For my home these were the (gob-smacking) results:
You have 3 more light bulbs than the average U.S. household.
You use
35.6 more efficient bulbs than the average.
You are likely
saving about
$112.45 more than the average U.S. household eachyear on lighting energy, due to your choice of bulbs.
If every household in the United States took the same steps on lighting efficiency: - It would save $12,706,495,632 in energy costs.
- It would be like shutting down 18 coal power plants.
- It would be like taking 13,753,910 cars off the road.
- It would reduce CO2 emissions by 70,144,945 metric tons
- It would cut emissions equivalent to 381,949 railcars of coal
Chris Chambers is the owner of Proudhouse Property LLP and Wigglies - Electrical Services. Creating and developing innovative homes in Somerset and South West England.
