Light bulb Inventory
by Chris Tilley
5. Turn Off the Lights
It’s easy to see when we leave a light on – so just switch it off. And while you’re at it, switch all your light bulbs to Compact Fluorescents (CFLs). These new bulbs last up to seven times longer, and use much less energy than all others. While plugged in, all your other electronics are silently stealing energy. Power transformers we have for battery chargers can use a lot of energy even when they’re doing nothing. Rather than unplug them, why not put them all on a power strip you can easily switch off?
When Matt and Steph toured around North America the eleventh action was ‘Teach your parents weller!’ So lets take a look at light bulbs. First there are compact florescent bulbs. These typically are the twisted up bulbs as pictured above and are more efficient. That means that they use less electricity to create the same amount of light. The other common ones are incandescent. These look like light bulbs and are much hotter when on. There are other kinds like halogen and LED.
Replacing one incandescent bulb with and compact fluorescent will save about 100 lbs of carbon per year and save you between $7.40 and $8.04 per year.(source) These are based on the the bulbs being on an average of 4 hours per day.
So lets do a little inventory of the lights in our houses. To do this first write out a list of the rooms in the house leaving room for the lighting in the room. So for me I have
Bedroom 1
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 3
Upstairs Hallway
Bathroom 1
Bathroom 2
Bathroom 3
Kitchen
Dining Room
Library
Living room
Hallway
Laundry room
Garage
Basement
Next we go around and look at each light bulb (never look directly into a light that is on!). Is it an incandescent, compact fluorescent or something you don’t recognize? Write the lamp and incandescent, compact fluorescent or unknown under each room. You can ask your parents about the unknown ones, If they are up on the ceiling write down unknown and ask your parents.
Bedroom 1
- Overhead 1: 3 Compact fluorescent
- Overhead 2: 2 Compact fluorescent
- Overhead 3: 2 Incandescent (wife’s closet)
- Reading lights: 2 LED
Bedroom 2
- Overhead 1: 2 Compact fluorescent
- Reading lights: 2 LED
- Under Loft beds: 4 LED
Bedroom 3
- Overhead 1: 2 Compact fluorescent
Upstairs Hallway
- Overhead 1: 2 Compact fluorescent
- Overhead 2: 2 Compact fluorescent
Bathroom 1
- Wall Fixture: 7 Incandescent, 1 Compact fluorescent
Bathroom 2
- Wall Fixture: 3 Compact fluorescent
Bathroom 3
- Wall Fixture: 2 Halogen
Kitchen
- Overhead: 4 Compact fluorescent
Dining Room
- Overhead: 3 Compact fluorescent
Library
- Overhead: 2 Compact fluorescent
Living room
- Standing lamps: 2 Compact fluorescent
- Overhead: 1 incandescent (supposed to light up a none existent feature)
Hallway
- Overhead: 2 Compact fluorescent
- Ceiling Fan: Unknown number of incandescent. (to high for me to get at)
Laundry room
- Overhead: 2 Incandescent
Garage
- Overhead: 2 Compact fluorescent
Basement
- Overhead: 2 Compact fluorescent, 1 Incandescent.
So go and find out from your parent what the unknown bulbs are. Next we want to discuss how they can save electricity. What bulbs are on the most often? Those should be replaced first. Make a rule that any bulbs that burn out should be replaced with a compact fluorescent. For me I am going to replace the ones in the closet and laundry room. The Bathroom 1 lights are being replaced as they burn out and the bathroom 3 is going to require a new fixture. The ceiling fan, if I ever go up there will get compact fluorescents. Points for discussing this with your parents.
- They use less electricity and therefore save money.
- They last longer that an incandescent bulb.
- You can buy them in various color temperatures. (the light looks like a incandescent bulb)
Resources:
Finding bulbs (EDF Bulb Finder)