Friday, January 04, 2008
A Better Light Bulb
I came across a copy of Smithsonian that I never got to reading, and inside was an article about light bulbs – not just any light bulbs, but compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), which apparently will soon replace the old bulbs we grew up with, assuming you aren’t 130 years old.
You may have heard about the environmental benefits of CFLs, which look like vanilla ice cream cones and are a lot more efficient than incandescent bulbs and therefore use less electricity. According to the Smithsonian article, however, they also save a lot money and last much longer than incandescent bulbs. Although CFLs cost more when you buy them, they pay for themselves in about six months through reduced electric bills, and then the savings continue for the life of the bulb – typically about ten times longer than that of an old-fashioned bulb.
Last week I bought just one 20-watt CFL (equivalent to a 75-watt bulb). I wanted to see if it gave off light in ways that might seem odd. When I first turned it on, over the dining room table, it seemed a little bit dim at first, but in about 10 seconds it got to full strength, and it seems perfectly normal. And I’m only using 27 percent of the electricity! Next trip to the store, I’m going to get CFLs for the hallway, the bedroom, and the closet. (The kitchen and living room already have various types of fluorescent lighting, and the laundry room light doesn’t get a lot of use anyway.) It will be interesting to see how this affects my electric bill.
The most notable downside to CFLs is that they contain small amounts of mercury, meaning that they have to be disposed of with care, and also are potentially dangerous if you break them. One professor points out that they should not be used as down lighting over kitchen counters. “A champagne cork hits one, you’ve dusted your whole kitchen with mercury.” The same researcher predicts that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will be cheap enough for household use within four years. These are the kinds of lights used in mobile phones and some flashlights, and they are twice as efficient as even CFLs – and they don’t use mercury.
So now, with CDs having replaced phonographs, CFLs taking the place of light bulbs, and DVDs supplanting movies on film, maybe the question is whether Edison himself is becoming obsolete?
P.S.: When I went to the store, they had CFLs on sale -- a two-pack costs just $5.00.
You may have heard about the environmental benefits of CFLs, which look like vanilla ice cream cones and are a lot more efficient than incandescent bulbs and therefore use less electricity. According to the Smithsonian article, however, they also save a lot money and last much longer than incandescent bulbs. Although CFLs cost more when you buy them, they pay for themselves in about six months through reduced electric bills, and then the savings continue for the life of the bulb – typically about ten times longer than that of an old-fashioned bulb.
Last week I bought just one 20-watt CFL (equivalent to a 75-watt bulb). I wanted to see if it gave off light in ways that might seem odd. When I first turned it on, over the dining room table, it seemed a little bit dim at first, but in about 10 seconds it got to full strength, and it seems perfectly normal. And I’m only using 27 percent of the electricity! Next trip to the store, I’m going to get CFLs for the hallway, the bedroom, and the closet. (The kitchen and living room already have various types of fluorescent lighting, and the laundry room light doesn’t get a lot of use anyway.) It will be interesting to see how this affects my electric bill.
The most notable downside to CFLs is that they contain small amounts of mercury, meaning that they have to be disposed of with care, and also are potentially dangerous if you break them. One professor points out that they should not be used as down lighting over kitchen counters. “A champagne cork hits one, you’ve dusted your whole kitchen with mercury.” The same researcher predicts that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will be cheap enough for household use within four years. These are the kinds of lights used in mobile phones and some flashlights, and they are twice as efficient as even CFLs – and they don’t use mercury.
So now, with CDs having replaced phonographs, CFLs taking the place of light bulbs, and DVDs supplanting movies on film, maybe the question is whether Edison himself is becoming obsolete?
P.S.: When I went to the store, they had CFLs on sale -- a two-pack costs just $5.00.
Labels: technology electricity savings environment
