How much Money can you save replacing 4 regular light bulbs with CFLs?

[suziedemocrat]

First - understand how energy is measured. When you use 1000 watts for an hour, that's a kilowatt-hour. For example:
• Ten 100-watt light bulbs on for an hour, is 1 kWh
• Ten 100-watt light bulbs on for 1/2 an hour, is 0.5 kWh
• Ten 50-watt light bulbs on for an hour, is 0.5 kWh
• One 60-watt light bulb on for an hour, is 0.06 kWh (60/1000)


We replaced 4 light Bulbs:

1) Over reading chair – on 16 hours/day
2) Over Stove – on 24 hours/day
3) Over porch – on 10 hours/day
4) Back Patio – on 10 hours/day.

============== Total = 60 hours/day ============
* 30 = 1800/hours a month

A regular 60 watt bulb uses .06 kWh
A compact florescent uses .014 kWh

Our energy company charges approximately 10 cents a kWh

1800 * .06 * .10 = $10.80 a month if these are regular bulbs.
1800 * .014 * .10 = $2.52 a month if these are Compact Florescent Bulbs
==================Save $8.28 ===============

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. incomplete data...

you have to compare the price of the CFL bulbs to regular bulbs and factor in the life span of each.

looks good so far.

[skids]

6. .

...and that was back when CFLs were extremely expensive. Now they are like $5. (The $7 in incandescents is the amount required to equal the lifespan of one CF bulb.)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. thanks!

:)

[Massacure]

2. Why on God's not so green earth do you run a light bulb 24 hours a day???

:freak:

[4dsc]

3. That's my question too??

Unless a light really needs to be on at all, turn it off. And while you are at it, unplug all electrically devices you are not useing too. I have heard that electricity leaks..

btw, I have replaced most of the bulbs in my house with CF's..

[Massacure]

4. More convenient than unplugging is using a kill switch. Power bars work.

Having a socket hardwired to a wall switch is even more convenient.

[suziedemocrat]

5. I'm taking care of my 81 year old Mother and she wants it on all night.

Without going into too much detail into why, let me just say she needs it on all night. We do turn it off during the day, but sometimes we forget, and then we'll turn it back on when we make coffee or whatever, so I said 24 hours a day for this calculation.

It would also be better to put the outside lights on a motion detector, but we haven't done that yet either.

Still, this post was just to show that we saved A LOT just by replacing 4 bulbs. Sort of a "Small Changes can make a BIG difference" post. But, without a doubt, we could be doing a lot more. Still, if you are going to have a light bulb on most of the day, isn't it better to have it be a CFL?

[RedEarth]

8. I think you're doing a great job....thanks for your post

[Javaman]

9. I just replaced all my out door security lights, front back and side yards

with solar powered security lamps. They work wonderfully and haven't noticed a bit of difference. I'm curious to see how my electric bill reflects this.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Thanks for posting that! To see what replacing all incandescents would

mean, visit http://www.banthebulb.org

Energy-efficient light bulbs use up to 67% less energy that traditional
light bulbs, with no loss in light. They also last 8 to 10 times longer,
delivering up to seven years of light.

This campaign has been established in order to illustrate that it is possible
to tackle our energy and climate problems by using technological
solutions which already exist, work well + save money.

However, in order to kick-start this change we must begin to turn fine
words and good intentions into action. Hinting at possible solutions, but
not being prepared to introduce the new laws and taxes or the binding
targets necessary to guarantee the delivery of far greater
energy-efficiency, has not worked.

Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs is something that we could all do,
quickly and simply, without any serious loss in our quality of life. We
would also save ourselves approximately £7 per bulb per year!

An average American home has about 30 light bulbs, 3 of them burning
for 5 hours or more per day. If all American homes replaced just 3 of
these bulbs with long-lasting bulbs, Americans could save electricity
equivalent to the output of 11 fossil-fuel-fired power plants. In turn they
would eliminate about 23 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year -
and save about $1,800,000,000.
ref: Natural Capitalism by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins.