Marlboro Township Green Team

CFLs: A BRIGHT IDEA!

Replacing one bulb per home saves enough energy to light 3,000,000 homes, more than 600 million in energy costs and prevent green house gas emissions equal to 800,000 cars.

In 2007 Americans saved 1.5 billion in energy costs with switch to CFLs. The energy saved could light a city like Washington D.C. for 30 years. Removes as much green house gas as the planting of 2.85 million acres of trees or taking 2 million cars off the road.

Mercury emissions are reduced. Even with mercury in the bulb less mercury ends up in environment due to decrease in use of coal power which is a major source of mercury emissions. (CFL bulbs should be recycled)

CFL Light bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. CFLs last 8000 hours (about 7 years of typical use) For every bulb you swap, you will cut as much as 1,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year and save up to $50 on your energy bills over the lifetime of the bulb. Helpful hint: It’s important to remember that CFL bulbs contain a very small amount of mercury, so they should be handled with care and recycled properly when they burn out.

Places to take your used CFL bulbs

• Any Home Depot store across North America (1,973 locations).
• IKEA stores across North America.
• EARTH 911 features a great utility for finding CFL bulb recycling centers across America.
• Lamp Recycle is a resource for any light bulb user seeking details on recycling spent mercury-containing lamps, and a whole lot more.

Electric lighting consumes up to 25% of the average home energy budget. The electricity used over the lifetime of a single incandescent bulb costs 5 to 10 times the original purchase price of a CFL bulb. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are simply miniature versions of full-sized fluorescents. They screw into standard lamp sockets, and give off light that looks just like the common incandescent bulbs - not like the fluorescent lighting we associate with factories and schools. BENEFITS OF COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS Efficiency: CFLs are four times more efficient and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs. A 22 watt CFL has about the same light output as a 100 watt incandescent. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 50 - 80% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. Savings: Although initially more expensive, you save money in the long run because CFLs use 1/3 the electricity and last up to 10 times as long as incandescent light bulbs. A single 18 watt CFL used in place of a 75 watt incandescent will save about 570 kWh over its lifetime. At 8 cents per kWh, that equates to a $45 savings. Pollution Reduction: By replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL you can keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants. Saving electricity reduces CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide and high-level nuclear waste. High-Quality Light: Newer Compact fluorescent light bulbs give a warm, inviting light instead of the "cool white" light of older fluorescents. They use rare earth phosphors for excellent color and warmth. New electronically ballasted CFLs don't flicker or hum. Versatility: Compact fluorescent light bulbs can be applied nearly anywhere that incandescent lights are used. Energy-efficient CFLs can be used in recessed fixtures, table lamps, track lighting, ceiling fixtures and porch lights. 3-way CFLs are also now available for lamps with 3-way settings. Dimmable Compact fluorescent light bulbs are also available for lights using a dimmer switch. For more information about CFL bulbs, please visit projectporchlight.com. (CFLs: A Bright Idea, data excerpted from ENERGYSTAR.GOV, ONECHANGE.ORG, 1000BULBS.COM) Marlboro TAC participates in Project Porchlight - Nov. 21, 2009

 

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