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Making a change that benefits both your wallet and the environment is always a wise decision. That's why more folks than ever are making the switch to compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) light bulbs.
CFLs are one of the new energy efficient and cost-saving light bulbs on the market. In fact, they use 75 per cent less energy to deliver the same amount of light as traditional incandescent bulbs and last much longer. They come in a variety of shapes, styles, colour and wattages, making it easy to find a match for every room, fixture and situation.
Why switch to CFLs
While CFLs are more expensive to purchase, they do save money in the long run because they last longer and use less energy. You only use one CFL for every 10 incandescent bulbs you would need.
As an example, if the average B.C. homeowner replaced all incandescent bulbs in the home with CFLs, the savings would be about 830 kilowatt hours in a year – that's enough energy to watch 4,100 episodes of your favourite TV program or wash 1,250 loads of laundry in a front-loading washer.
Besides the cost savings, the long life of CFLs make them great for those hard-to-reach chandeliers and pot lights. And, since they come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, you can easily find a bulb to suit any application such as those tough-to-change ceiling pot lights. Also available now are dimmable CFLs and completely enclosed bulbs designed specifically for outdoor use.
How to make the switch
Since CFLs can now replace any existing light source and the savings are so significant, it is more efficient to exchange all of your incandescent bulbs for CFLs now, rather than wait until the original bulbs burn out. Start with the rooms you use most such as the kitchen, living room, bathrooms and hallways, and then replace bulbs through the rest of your house as your budget allows.
Setting the mood, with colour
With a few tips in mind, converting to CFLs is easy. Correlated colour temperature is the scale used for measuring the colour of light. Candlelight is 1700 degrees Kelvin, the average incandescent bulb is 3300 degrees Kelvin and daylight is 6200 degrees Kelvin. Just remember -- the lower the number, the warmer the light.
A variety of colour and tones are available – warm, cool and daylight – and the type is usually indicated on the packaging. When you're choosing, consider when you are use the room and what you are using it for. Do you want a warmer or cooler tone? Warm cozy light at 3300 degrees Kelvin is nice for a dining room, while white bright light at 6500 degrees Kelvin is great for a laundry room.
Choosing the right wattage
Like traditional bulbs, CFLs come in different wattages. A CFL is slightly less than one-quarter the wattage of the incandescent bulb it is replacing. For example, use a 9w CFL in place of a 40w incandescent, and a 23w CFL to replace a 100w incandescent.
Before you go shopping for CFLs, make a list by room of the fixtures and the size and wattage of the bulbs you will replace. To avoid different colour zones, keep the same correlated colour temperature for all fixtures within a room. 9w is good for reading lamps and bathroom vanity fixtures and 13w works well for ceiling fixtures. Use 23w floodlamps outside where you want brighter light for safety.
Disposing of CFLs
CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury (usually less than four milligrams). That’s about 20 per cent of the amount of mercury found in the average watch battery and less than one per cent of that in an amalgam dental filling. This means disposing of CFLs needs more care and attention than disposing of incandescent bulbs.
For disposal, CFLs should be wrapped in a plastic bag and dropped off at a CFL disposal facility (Home Depot in Cranbrook or Home Building Centre in Fernie). Keep in mind that a broken CFL will release mercury into the environment so if a bulb breaks you should:
- Open a window immediately and leave the area for 15 minutes
- Use a wet rag to clean up the mercury and glass and put the rag and all pieces in a sealed plastic bag or jar with a lid
- Place the bag or jar in a second sealed plastic bag and drop it all off at Home Depot
--source: BC Hydro
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