Globe of a Different Light

When is a $7 light globe cheaper than one that costs 50 cents?
When it is a CFL!

Someone recently asked me an interesting question:

What energy-saving tip do you give most often that people don't follow up on?? In other words, what advice is the most frequently ignored?

Actually, it is a pretty easy question to answer. I have been talking about the advantages of energy-saving light globes for many years, and people often stop me before I finish and let me know that they're not crazy enough to spend $5, $7 or more on a light globe. I was starting to agree that it was a concept that requires a fair amount of thought, even if you're heard it many times before.

What I find troubling in this is the simple fact that the purchase of these globes could be one of the best investments someone could make in their home or apartment, yet the high purchase price of the product scares many people away before they even think it through.

Just consider the following example see if this makes sense to you. Let's assume you have a lamp in your living room that has a 100-watt incandescent globe in it right now, and tonight when you turn on the light, the globe burns out. I say that if you replace it with a compact fluorescent globe costing around $7 instead of another incandescent costing 50 cents, you'll end up saving a lot of money, saving some time and aggravation, getting even more light, and probably cutting down on your air-conditioning use as well.

I bet you started to stop reading and go back, didn't you? Well, hang on another couple of minutes and read the following.

That 100-watt incandescent globe you might have bought for 50 cents has a rated lamp life of up to 12 months if you use it 6 hours a day (and lucky). Based on an average electric rate of 18 cents per kilowatt hour, the energy cost each year will be $39.42. During the next 4.5 years, you'll replace this globe, maybe 5 times. You'll thus end up spending more than $179.89 for the globes and their energy during this time period.

However, if you instead replace that globe with a 18-watt compact fluorescent light (CFL), look at these economics. This one globe will last the full 4.5 years (many have even longer rated lives). The annual energy cost is only $7, and you won't need to purchase another lamp until 2011. Add the purchase price of this globe ($7) to the energy costs over 4.5 years and you'll see the total cost is less than $39.00 ?saving you nearly $135.00 over the life of the incandescent lamps.  The CFL will pay for itself in around 3 months! 

Let me add a couple of other things to think about. First, the 18-watt compact fluorescent produces more light than you get from that incandescent. Second, you won't have to go out and buy new globes every 5 months and take the time to replace the burned-out ones. And third, the energy-efficient globe puts out 90 percent less heat than does the incandescent, reducing the load on the air conditioner while keeping you a lot more comfortable when you sit near the lamp.

So you tell me: how can you say this isn't a clear, no-contest argument in favour of compact fluorescent globes?

By the way, Utility Savings Solutions carries various types of compact fluorescent light globes. The products are available, even though they may not be stocked at all times.

One more tip: put compact fluorescent globes into fixtures that are hard to get at, like in a stairway or the high ceiling. Sometimes the hassle of standing on a ladder or chair to replace a hard-to-reach globe makes the higher cost of the CFL worthwhile on this basis alone.