Helping the planet by changing your light bulbs
No CommentsTime has past now when being an environmentalist meant spending more money. A quick look at the economy of a family can confirm quite the opposite. A clear example is in the choice of light bulbs. Simple calculations about your energy consumptions can help you verify how much money you could actually save by changing all light bulbs in your home from standard incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs. You need no living in the darkness. There are plenty of models available in the market, so you can make your perfect choice depending on whether it is for outdoor or indoor use, a table lamp or a pending lamp, white light or colored, or full-spectrum light which creates a daylight light, something we in Sweden value very much! You can check some examples of what is available using the very useful guide published by the Environmental Defense Fund .
I know, compact fluorescent light bulbs cost about 4 to 6 times more than a traditional bulb. However, they last much longer, and use lot less energy. When we did change all the bulbs in our home, we realize immediately what a big saving it was: our electric bill was in average about 10 € cheaper each month! That adds up to a full 120 € per year. Much more than we spent for changing our light bulbs! This is what economists call an asset. Not only we got the invested money back in almost no time, but we are earning 120 € for each year of use. If we consider a fair lifetime for light bulb of about 8/9 years, that is much more than any bank is giving you in interests for your savings.
Each case is different, depending on how big is your home, and how much daylight is available in the country you live. We obviously consume about 3 to 4 times more kilowatt/hour during the dark winter than during the long summer days. There are calculators in the internet that help you computing how much money you can save in your case. All you need to know is your average kilowatt hour consumed per year and the price you pay for kilowatt hour, which is normally written on your electric bill. Think that if you change one standard light bulb with one using about a quarter of Watt ( for instance you substitute all 100 Watt bulb with 25 Watt) you safe a three quarter of your money spent for using that light. It is very simple math. Of course you are not only saving money. You save on carbon dioxide emissions. So even if you are rich enough not to care about how much is your electric bill, you might still care about helping the planet.
Incidentally, it never hurts to switch off the light when you leave the room.
Tags: carbon dioxide > elettric bill > energy efficiency > light bulb > money savings
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