Energy Efficiency Part 2 Lighting

There has been news about light bulbs. WalMart was actually on the cover of Wired magazine pushing energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs, and I must say that Walmart is absolutely on the mark...Mostly. The Energy efficiency numbers are truly staggering.

A fluorescent bulb will last roughly 12 times longer and at 15 cents a month is less than 25% the operating cost of an incandescent. Changing 18 bulbs will save you about $118 per year. Fluorescent emits less than 1/3 the heat of incandescent, so it eliminates the drag on air conditioning in the summer.



The knock against fluorescent is the quality of light. Most of our favorite instituitions like schools, hospitals and offices have utilized these bulbs for years. If you do not want to emulate these cheerful environments, then buy a fluorescent bulb with a lower CRI (or color rendering index). Traditionally, fluorescent have a high CRI at 5000 degrees, whereas incandescent is 2000-2500 degrees.

You can now buy fluorescent bulbs at 2800 degrees, which will combine the incredible energy savings with much better quality of light.

If you have any energy saving tips or ideas, please email me at Steve.sheinkopf@yaleappliance.com

The Green Project At Yale..."Saving money and the environment one product at a time"