Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) are a quick and easy way to cut your lighting energy use to a quarter of what it has been with incandescent light bulbs. Cutting energy use means that our electrical utilities have to generate less energy and produce less pollution, which means less impact on the Creation. Incandescent bulbs have not changed much since Thomas Edison invented them more than a century ago. They put out light by heating a metal filament until it is white-hot. But they also put out heat, wasting energy that isn’t putting out light and even raising air conditioning costs in the summer.
In the 1980’s, the fluorescent light tubes that were used primarily in industrial settings received a makeover for more widespread application. Engineers figured out how to reduce the size of the tube by curling it so that it is the approximate size of the old incandescent bulb and can fit into the same socket. Most importantly, it uses much less power. A 13-watt CFL produces about the same light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb, and a 25-watt CFL is as bright as a 100-watt incandescent.
It’s true that the CFL bulb costs more up front. But an Energy Star CFL lasts up to 10 times longer. In the end the reduced energy costs will mean that purchasing and using a CFL costs less than a third as much as purchasing and using the old dinosaur bulb. Here’s a comparison of costs based on 10,000 hours of light (nearly 7 years if the light is on 4 hours a day):
CFL Incandescent
Energy Input (watts) 13 60
Light Output (lumens) 810 830
Useful life (hours) 10,000 1,500
# Bulbs for 10,000 hours 1 6.7
Bulb Costs 1 @ $4.00 = $4.00 6.7 @ $0.32 = $2.14
Electricity Used (kilowatt hours) 130 600
Electricity Cost (@ $.08 per kwh) $10.40 $48.00
Total Cost (Electricity + Bulb) $14.40 $50.14
Cost savings in using a CFL - $35.74 or 71%!
The energy saved also makes it much better for the Creation. The 470 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity saved translates to a global warming-fighting reduction of over 730 pounds of carbon dioxide. It also means a reduction of 1.6 pounds of nitrogen oxides (which contribute to ozone and acid rain), and makes significant reductions in other impacts of coal-produced power such as mercury pollution and destruction of forest and stream habitats in mining areas.
No major environmental group or organization with their solid science knowledge base has spoken any concern about the disposal of CFL’s. There is a small amount of mercury vapor in all fluorescent lights. Mercury is a toxic substance, but the amount in CFL’s compared to all the other sources of mercury exposure (thermometers, regular long tube fluorescent lamps, emissions from coal-fired power plants, etc.) is so little that it does not substantially contribute to the problem of mercury exposure. Theoretically, we should be disposing of all our used mercury-containing products by appropriate hazardous waste methods. So, when, after the long, long useful life span of a cfl is over, we recommend disposal through hazardous waste handling systems but it is not obligatory to do so. A few progressive recycle facilities have found reclamation markets for fluorescent lights.