Get Better Bulbs
Each time you do this action you will save 47kg of CO2
Calculation Method
- Green Thing has used the figure calculated by AMEE API
which calculates CO2 values for the UK government's carbon calculator, Act on CO2.
- 47kg is how much CO2 you save in a year if you switch to an energy saving lightbulb.
LIGHTING - improving the energy efficiency of home and office.
Energy efficient Lighting is one of the easier issues to tackle in the battle against excessive energy consumption. Immediate benefit can be achieved by replacing aging filament lamps with new generation compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) or even better, light emitting diode (LED) lamps.
Whilst filament lamps last around 1000 hours on average, CFLs can achieve three times that. Both are eclipsed by LED lamps that shine for around 30,000 hours.
Table 1 illustrates this for a GU10 down light bulb which is available in all three forms of lighting.
The LED variant is a clear winner on grounds of both cost saving and longevity.
The impact might be modest for a single bulb but if everyone adopted low energy lighting the cumulative effect would be significant.
Cost savings (see table 1) can be achieved by changing light bulbs for low energy types and by improving natural lighting to reduce reliance on artificial lighting. More complex actions can achieve significant improvement in lighting efficiency and effectiveness.
Table 1 Annual cost of GU10 white filament bulb versus low energy alternatives
Assumes unit cost of electricity is £0.18 per kWh (UK)
1 Daily cost of electricity (no capital cost allowance)
2 Cost/year = annual running cost + pro rata annual capital cost of bulb
RECYCLING CFLs
There is a lot of information available now about compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Many environmental campaigns and websites have been devoted to every American changing at least one conventional bulb in their house to a CFL. CFLs require less energy, give off less heat and last ten times longer than regular light bulbs. However, CFLs contain a small amount of mercury prompting the question, "what's the best way to dispose of a fluorescent bulb?"
Most CFLs sold to date are still in use as they last up to five years. Within the next couple of years though the United States could be looking at 100 million light bulbs flowing into landfills along with their mercury. The first step in disposing of your burnt out CFL would be to call your waste service to see what they recommend. If you don't get any answers from them, contact your city directly. Another option is to bring the bulbs back from whence they came and see if the store offers a recycling program. Lastly, the USEPA
offers a handy website where you can look for recycling centers in your area.
Have look at 5 Ways to Recycle a CFL from Lighter Footstep for more info on recycling your CFLs
