Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
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?
Replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) will both reduce your carbon footprint and save you money. Environmental Defense Fund reports the savings replacing a 75watt incandescent with a 25 watt CFL over a 15,000 hour lifespan of a CFL bulb. (source) I wanted a yearly savings so I estimated that each bulb averages four hours on a day or 1460 hours a year. I also counted the number of bulbs in my house and got 30 bulbs.
The carbon savings for a single bulb over the lifespan of the bulb is between 988 and 1077 lbs of carbon dioxide. That works out to between 96 and 104 lbs of carbon dioxide saving per year for a single bulb. That would take two trees a year to equal those savings. Replacing all (30) bulbs with CFL bulbs works out to saving between 1.3 and 1.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year or between 60 and 65 trees a year to equal those savings. A million people taking action and replacing only one bulb would save between 43 and 47 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. That million people taking action and replacing all (30) bulbs would save between 1.3 and 1.4 million tones of carbon dioxide per year. The amount of carbon dioxide is dependent on where the electricity comes from. That really doesn’t matter if you have carbon free electricity conserving will still save you money and possibly provide carbon free electricity to someone else.
The cost savings for a single bulb over the lifespan of the bulb is between 76 and 83 dollars. That works out to between $7.40 and $8.08 per year for a single bulb. Replacing all (30) bulbs works out to a yearly savings between $222 and $240.
Replacing 1 bulb with a CFL bulb
1 Action
- 96 – 104 Lbs of carbon dioxide which takes 2 trees one year to absorb.
- $7.40 – $8.08
1 Million Actions, 1 bulb
- 43 – 47 Tonnes of carbon dioxide which takes 2 million trees one year to absorb.
Replacing 30 bulb with CFL bulbs
1 Action
- 1.3 – 1.4 Tonnes of carbon dioxide which takes 60 – 65 trees one year to absorb.
- $222 – $240
1 Million Actions
- 1.3- 1.4 million Tonnes of carbon dioxide which takes 60 – 65 million trees one year to absorb.
[…] 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 […]
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