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)
Turning lights, transformers, chargers and stand-by electronics off is a great idea, but I hope you don’t neglect to mention that:
– CFLs should not be used in closets, stairways, storage rooms or bathrooms because they take a while to warm up and need to be left on for at least 15 minutes up to 3 hours at a time.
– CLFs cannot be used with dimmer switches, timers or sensors, unless it is a model specifically designed to be used with such electronics. If you’re lucky you only ruin the lamp and/or the electronics, if you’re unlucky you start a fire.
– CFLs may not last as long as claimed if used in recessed or closed luminaires (due to heat sensitivity) or if you switch them on-and-off too often (unless specifically designed to withstand frequent switching).
– CFLs used outdoors need to be specifically designed for outdoor use if you live in a cooler region.
– CFLs don’t save as much as claimed due to poor power factor and gradual light loss.
– CFLs of the naked tube or naked spiral type should not be used close to the skin as some may emit a little UV. Use frosted Halogen Energy Savers, LEDs CFLs with an outer bulb for reading.
– CFLs contain mercury and should not be used around children, pets or pregnant women. Must be recycled after use! This is THE most important thing to teach children. No burned-out CFLs in the trash!
– Coloured LEDs can be used as night lights, decoration and holiday lights.
– Halogen Energy Savers can replace standard incandescent lamps and reflector lamps and save 25-45% while still giving the same top quality warm-white light with perfect colour rendering capacity.
– Xenon halogen can replace low-voltage halogen mini bulbs and tubes and save 25%.
– Dimming incandescent and halogen lights will both save energy and make them last many times longer.
– If you use incandescent lamps and live in a region with cold winters, the heat from the lamps help keep heating bills down while giving top quality light. Incandescent lamps give off most heat, then halogen and CFLs. LEDs give off so little heat that you can touch them when turned on.
Comment by Halogenica — Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 9:53 am
winsome answers i like it
Comment by Advockyarrack — Tuesday, January 5, 2010 @ 8:41 am