Tired of Giving Away Money to the Electric Company?

This article is the first in a list of practical things you can do to save money on your monthly electric bill. Get some new green products, and maybe use the extra money to pay for a small vacation.

Throw out all the incandescent bulbs

A Compact Fluorescent Lamp (or CFL) is a small circular fluorescent light bulb used to replace incandescent bulbs. They typically take the same amount of space as an ancient incandescent bulb, and screw right into the same socket.

A CFL does not generate light the way an incandescent bulbs does. Incandescent light bulbs have worked essentially the same way since Thomas Edison invented them. When electricity is connected to both sides of a carbon filament, it gets hot and produces light. In CFLs (as with the older fluorescent tubes), a closed glass tube is coated with a fluorescent coating that glows when a current is applied to the argon and mercury vapor inside.

You have heard this before, but unless you are only going to turn on that incandescent bulb a couple of times a year, you are wasting money (no matter how cheap the bulb is). Green products help you save money. One of the new Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) saves around 75% over an equivalent incandescent bulb. In one year, that could add up to a $30 savings – per bulb!

CFLs have been out several years now. Along with the bulb style, you can now choose the shade of white light you like. This can really enhance the mood of a room, home office or family room. The CFL colors vary from a warm yellow to daylight blue. If you prefer the look (color) of incandescent bulbs, choose a warm light.

Be aware that the daylight or bluer light often appears harsh and can have a negative effect on light sensitive people. You will notice they squint or avoid sitting/standing near this color light. If so just change it out for one of the warmer colors.

Look on the package for a number that ends in K. This stands for Kelvin or the “temperature” of the bulb. A Kelvin rating of 2700K-3000K is a warm/yellow bulb. A Cool White bulb has a rating of 3500K-4100K. A rating of 5000K-6500K is a Daylight blue bulb.

To replace a 40 watt incandescent bulb, use a 9-13 watt CFL bulb; for a 60 watt incandescent bulb use a 13-15 watt; for a 75 watt incandescent bulb use an 18-25 watt CFL; and for a 100 watt incandescent bulb, use a 23-30 watt CFL.

Nevertheless, do not forget to recycle all CFLs. California law for example forbids the disposal of any lamps containing mercury in the regular solid waste trash. Even though a CFL is one of the most convenient green products, it does contain about five milligrams of mercury – one-fifth of the amount of mercury in an average watch battery.

When recycling your ancient CFL green products, places like ACE Hardware, Orchard (OSH), Home Depot and IKEA will accept and properly dispose of the ancient CFL bulb.

An even newer and more efficient green product for lighting is LED (light emitting diode) bulbs. They are up to 90% more efficient than a standard incandescent bulb. You will see them used more and more in decorative lighting systems. I am told that the electricity needed to light a single incandescent used a few years ago for lawn lighting could power 15 LED units.

Next time will look at some more green products that can further reduce your carbon footprint and save you still more money.

Michael