Changing out one traditional incandescent bulb for a compact fluorescent bulb will save a home or business approximately $30 in power over the course of the bulbâs life. This savings does not take into account that you would need to replace the iridescent bulb TEN TIMES before the CFL bulb burns out.

If everyone in America changed out just one Incandescent light bulb for an compact fluorescent bulb it would annually save over $600 million in power costs, reduce greenhouse emissions by the equivalent of 800,000 vehicle emissions and would lessen the amount of power currently used enough to light 3 million additional homes without adding any additional power plants, or even turning on any additional generators.

The average incandescent bulb lasts for 750-1000 hours. CFL bulbs last 7500-10,000 hours with some lasting upward of 20,000.

CFL bulbs produce much less heat than incandescent bulbs. As a result they use 25% of the power of incandescent bulbs to output the same amount of light. This is because a lot of the power used by and incandescent bulb is used up in heat generation while creating light.

CFL wattage————Equivalent

8-10——————-40 watt

11-17——————60 watt

18-22——————75 watt

23-28——————100 watt

34-42——————150 watt

CFL manufacturers also now print on the packaging what the incandescent equivalent is since it is commonly understood what amount of light an incandescent bulb will put out at a given wattage and CFL wattage is much lower.

CFL technology has been in widespread use since the early 1990s. The early bulbs produced a whiter and âcolderâ light than incandescent bulbs and produced less light output. The bulbs also cost upwards of $5-7 each. In the long run a cost savings would have been realized over the purchase of 10 incandescent bulbs, but it was hard for anyone to pay that much up front for an inferior bulb that might last 10 times as long.

Today compact fluorescent bulbs can match and exceed the quality of incandescent bulbs in every way and only cost roughly the same to double the price. In and independent double-blind lab test using a light-meter and 4 lighting and interior design experts the CFL bulbs actually produced a better and more appealing light.

CFL bulbs have also come a long way in form. At first CFL bulbs were only available in a long tube or coiled. This made it impossible to connect a shade onto the bulb as many older light fixtures do. This has also changed and CFL bulbs come in as many shapes and forms as traditional bulbs including standard form, flood light, globe and candelabra.
Additionally most manufacturers are guaranteeing the CFL bulbs for at least 5 years. Home Depot is even accepting burned out CFL bulbs with no receipt to be exchanged for a good bulb since Home Depot receipts only have and expected 2-year lifespan.

Opponents of CFL lighting have cited that CFL bulbs contain mercury as one of the major downsides and an environmental concern. CFL light bulbs do contain mercury. Most of them have 5 milligrams or less, and amount equal to the size to the tip of a pen. 100 CFL bulbs contain the same amount of mercury as a standard mercury thermometer. Such a small amount of mercury is not considered a significant environmental concern; however the EPA still recommends that CFL bulbs be recycled. If they can not be recycled because there is no glass recycling program in the area, it is then recommended that they be disposed of in a landfill type disposal and never incinerated.

When you consider that 1 CFL bulb will last as long as 10 incandescent bulbs and each CFL bulb produces the same amount of recycling material or garbage as 1 traditional bulb 5 milligrams of mercury seems a small consequence.

CFL bulbs are such a positive upgrade from incandescent bulbs that in 2007 a bill was proposed in California to ban the sale of incandescent bulbs in the entire state. The bill was not passed, but just the fact it was proposed shows how positive the change is.

On the horizon is Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, which requires less than 10% the amount of power as incandescent lighting and last even longer than CFL, however those bulbs cost more than $75 at the moment and are not readily interchangeable with incandescent bulbs like CFL bulbs are.

This article was provided courtesy of 1STOPlighting, which is an online shop for all your lighting fixture needs. 1STOPlighting also provides Energy Star lighting Products Please visit us for more information on Energy efficient lighting and Energy efficient ceiling fans.

Author: Michael Kjaer
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Electric Pressure Cooker