I know this is not a new product or idea but like NBC used to say about it's sitcom re-runs "if you haven't seen it before then it's new to you". The product is CFL or Compact Fluorescent Lamp (Light). I've know about flourescent lights for years now, we all use them in our offices, in our garages, etc. However, I never game them serious considerations for home use until recently. Who thinks about light bulbs at all? You just buy a stock pile and replace them as they burn out. In the September 2006 issue of Fast Company magazine there was an article titled "How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World?" This article changed my perspective 180 degrees. I've never been an environmentalist but the simplicity of the idea and the volume of the impact on our society was too much to ignore.
From the article...
"Until the last few years CFLs lacked strong, unwavering, quiet light. But those previous limitations have been overcome. CFLs now emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity. That means that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one CFL, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people! One bulb swapped out is enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. And that is just one swirl per home. The typical U.S. house has between 50 and 100 "sockets" (astonish yourself: Go count the bulbs in your house). So what if we all bought and installed two ice-cream-cone bulbs? Five? Fifteen? An old-fashioned incandescent makes 15 lumens per watt; a 60-watt bulb shines with 900 lumens. In a CFL, you get 60 lumens per watt. To get 900 lumens--to get the light you expect from a 60-watt bulb--you need only 15 watts. A 60-watt classic bulb and a 15-watt swirl are identically bright--the swirl just uses 45 fewer watts. "
True, the CFLs cost more upfront but with the cost savings pay for themselves in roughly five months. And they pay for themselves many, many times over because they last 7 - 10 years (YEARS!) as compared to 3 -4 months for regular incandescent bulbs. Install them now and you may not change a light bulb until the year 2016.
I was skeptical but I made a trip to my local Wal-Mart last weekend. I loaded up with CFLs shaped like swirls, some 3-way bulb shaped ones, and some of the big, round ones that go above the mirror in modern bathrooms. I replaced roughly half of the bulbs in our home with CFLs. Again, I was skeptical at first but I quickly realized the attraction. The light from the CFLs was actually stronger and brighter than the traditional bulbs. The CFLs were not scalding hot when you touched them. Most importantly, they are saving me 80% of the cost of traditional light bulbs.
I highly recommend trying CFLs in your home and in your church. I'm a traditionalist at heart but to grow we need to change, so I'm off to Wal-Mart to buy enough CFLs to replace the rest of the bulbs in my home.
(To learn more visit GE's Ecomagination site)
God bless,
Curtis S