WHO has converted to CFLs??

[FarmerChick]

I saw a special on tv last night. Converting to CFLs in the home was amazing the power it saved. Literally if everyone converted to CFLs and stopped the old bulbs, then we could save the world needing to build like 10 power plants....it was amazing.

Has everyone converted. If each of us do a small part literally, then we can cut power usuage by a MONSTER amount and not realize something so small would effect so much.

The state of Kentucky changed all its traffic signal lights to LED....cost was like $11 million BUT it saved 35 million KWH per year or something like that. Paid for itself in no time.

This special show was wild. It surely taught me alot...called Killowatt Ours. Anyone else catch this show?

well just rambling but the change of a few lightbulbs and other things they mentioned really opened my eyes to what can be done......at least a step in the right direction.

and yes, I just converted all but 1 light to CFL and waiting to see my new bill...LOL...that one light fixture that wouldn't fit the CFL...yup, getting rid of it and getting one that will. I decided to do my part for my own good..HA HA

just chatting and seeing what everyone is doing..

 

[user251]

we've changed most of our bulbs out. It's fairly expensive to do all at once so we've done it in stages, and we noticed a good reduction in the power bill. I'm sure when we get them all done it will make a good decrease in the bill

 

[patandchickens]

We use a few, just in the lights that are on for long periods of time. But really, most of the lights in our house, if they're used at all it's only for a minute or few minutes, and that seems to really eat up the CFLs Also they haven't worked well for us outdoors, for the same reason that regular fluorescents don't -- up here you need the special cold-temperature ballasts if you expect them to run decently during the winters.

I'm not against CFLs, but I think it is a MASSIVELY bad idea that they're being pushed so hard in advance of readily-available recycling facilities. To be quite honest, I think it's mostly a) yet another marketing/sales opportunity, and b) a way for power companies to hopefully solve growing problems of power demand outstripping supply without actually p*ssing anyone off.

(e.t.a. - I am betting/hoping that LED technology will have outstripped CFL technology for many household uses in a few years.. in many ways it seems like a better arrangement to me, anyhow)

<momentary rant> Wouldn't it be a whole lot better if people would simply USE LESS ELECTRIC STUFF, OVERALL </momentary rant>

BTW, in case someone wants to go off on how allegedly super-dangerous CFLs are if they break, this has been discussed and basically debunked (re: costing tens of thousands of dollars with guys in white hazmat suits) on another thread here and of course elsewhere on the web. Just sayin'

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

yes they explained the mercury level in the CFLs is not as "dangerous" as noted.

More mercury is let into the atmosphere by burning coal and deposited into streams and such that eating fish is harmful etc.

So CFLs are a better choice than to burn coal for furel.

The special show last night de-bunked and clarified all of this.




Pat you mentioned:
I think it's mostly a) yet another marketing/sales opportunity, and b) a way for power companies to hopefully solve growing problems of power demand outstripping supply without actually p*ssing anyone off.

For what I saw it isn't a marketing tool per se to make money on CFLs. the power saved was massive if we converted.
Also, the growing problems of the power demand is OUR problem...not the power company who literally can't keep up.

And I agree, less gadgets and elec. usuage all around definitely.

I must say the show Killowatt Ours was a fab 1 hr. special. It just put it all into perspective for me and I hope millions of people caught the show also and I know I ended up with a new way of thinking about power.

 

[reinbeau]

Any marketing tool that'll lower my electric bill the way CFL's have lowered mine is just fine with me. My bill last month was $63 something. This month it's $53. That's down from last year's bills that ran around $90 for each month. I credit both the CFL's and the new refrigerator (the CFL's came first, noticed a big drop, then the fridge).

Home Depot will take back the CFL's around here, but as has been said, coal burning electric plants emit far more mercury - so use less electricity, don't drop the bulbs (although I haven't found them to be near as fragile as incandescents) and you'll save money.

I also haven't had to take one to a disposal facility yet, and some of mine are quite a few years old. They don't seem to burn out as fast as incandescents.

 

[k0xxx]

We haven't yet, and probably won't until there is a way for us to dispose of the locally other than the landfill. We have enough stuff leaching into our aquifers.

I do use some LED lighting and, in some areas some cold cathode lighting. However, they are more adept to lighting work areas, and not rooms.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Never "converted" at all- when I built my house, I used cfl as a matter of course. Now I'm begining to have to replace them as they burn out.
The local harzardous waste facility here takes them for recycling (I think- I never checked but since they don't charge that is usually a sign of recycling rather than dispoal.)
I will say that as they get towards the end of their life, they do ge dimmer and dimmer. So if you find that they seem to provide less light, changing them might make a difference- and the newer ones have a yellower color to them which I like better.

 

[MorelCabin]

Ya they do cast a yellow color...I changed mine in the bathroom and was noticing that my urine was almost flourescant...I was kind of puzzled until I put 2 & 2 together and asked Dh if he had the same problem:>)

 

[FarmerChick]

yea I am getting used to the color change in the lights also...but I will adapt..LOL
And of course with better technology they might be making LED bulbs for the house, which save even more power or improve the current CFLs.

 

[Cassandra]

You know, I changed mine out and really didn't notice a difference in my power bill. But then, mine is $260 a month (most of which is undoubtedly due to the central air/heat unit.) I am making some other changes, but haven't seen it helping.

That doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying, just that I'm not there yet. I've started turning off my bedside fan (which used to run pretty much 24/7 unless there was a power outage) when I leave for work.

I now turn my computer off before going to bed at night and it turns on automatically at 5:30 each evening.

For a while, we also had a water leak which meant our well pump was running all the time. And with this nicer weather, the a/c isn't on as much. Hopefully next month's bill will be looking better. But I would be surprised to see it under $150.

Cassandra