Save electricity and reduce energy costs with CFL light bulbs

By: Alzo Digital

The majority of American households are still using regular light bulbs known as incandescent or Tungsten bulbs. While these bulbs are generally very cheap ($0.50 or less for a 75W bulb), they are inefficient and energy-wasting, with a relatively short life span. Fortunately, more and more people are using energy-saving compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, and the government is mandating the use of CFL and other energy-saving bulbs. In 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which includes the Lighting Efficiency Mandate that seeks to phase out the use of standard incandescent light bulbs by 2014 and improve lighting efficiency by more than 70 percent by 2020. In other words, over the next few years, you’ll see Tungsten light bulbs disappearing from stores and more and more energy saving bulbs replacing them. This is good news!

Which bulb should you choose? For most household lamps, coiled CFL bulbs are the best solution. They come in various intensities, ranging from 60W to 100W or higher. (Note: these Wattage numbers refer to the light output of a Tungsten bulb; the lower number, e.g., 15W, 20W, indicates the number of Watts used) If you buy them in a multipack, the price per bulb is less than $2. Besides intensity, there are at least two more things to consider:

• Color temperature: the color temperature of a bulb, indicated in Kelvin (K), refers to the number in the color spectrum. 5500K is approx. the color temperature of daylight, which indoors creates a very bright, harsh light that is suitable for a garage, a basement or a workspace that needs to be well lit. For other areas in the house, such as living room, kitchen, bedrooms, family rooms or bathrooms, we recommend a warmer tone, around 3000K. Make sure when you buy the bulbs that they either indicate color temperature in Kelvin or say something like “warm tone” or “soft white.”
• Wire frame harp size of light fixture or lamp: Until now, wire frame harps (the metal wire that surrounds the bulb and where the lampshade is attached to) were built to fit pear-shaped Tungsten bulbs. If you try to stick a coiled CFL bulb in there, you might run into a problem: the harp might not be wide or high enough. This is particularly true when you buy a 3-way energy saving bulb that lets you adjust the intensity; these bulbs are too long for a regular harp. ALZO Digital sells 3-way energy saving CFL light bulbs with an upgrade harp for a perfect bulb fit.

Depending on the bulb intensity, you will save dozens or even hundreds of $$ over the life of the bulb. In the case of the ALZO 3-way bulb, you will save about $84.

Jump on the bandwagon (this is one you wanna be on) and brighten up your home with energy-saving CFL bulbs. Planet Earth says thank you!

Niche Article Directory: http://www.thatsmyniche.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated