It’s amazing how much energy we waste in the U.S. One example: the incandescent light bulb, which gives off 95% of its energy as heat. (The classic Hasbro toy, the Easy-Bake Oven, makes cookies using the heat of a light bulbs.) Much-touted compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, improve on the efficiency of incandescents. Even better are LEDs, which are the topic of today’s CNNMoney.com column.
LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are very cool. They’re efficient, long-lasting, mercury-free and they emit many hues. (See below—yes, that’s an Amish buggy using an LED flashlight.) They’re also expensive—some LEDs in bulbs cost $70—but falling in price, and already practical for parking garages and traffic signals where the lights are on all the time.
Here’s how the column begins:
Everyone from Wal-Mart (Change a Light, Change the World) to Yahoo (www.18seconds.org) to the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (How Many Jews Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb?) wants you to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs to help save the planet.
CFLs, as they’re known, cost more than old-style incandescent bulbs, but they last longer, use far less electricity, save consumers’ money in the long run and reduce greenhouse gases.
All of which is well and good. But the next, next big thing in lighting – a $40 billion global business – could turn out to be the technology known as LEDs, or light emitting diodes, which are a whole lot “greener” than CFLs. The newest LEDs use even less energy than CFLs. They last for as long as a decade. And, unlike CFLs, they are mercury-free.
You can read the rest of the column here.
Marc – there is a difference in CFL’s light output. Take for instance, General Electric CFL R40 bulbs for home applications cast more of a fluorescent look than TCP brand. For home owners to take advantage of the costs savings associated to changing out their standard bulbs – without changing the look of the paint on the walls – I would really suggest TCP. We are both a GE and TCP dealer – but I can tell you for certain that TCP is a better choice at this point. We have a section of our web site that people can calculate savings and choose from a variety of CFL’s that are not typically sold in stores. http://www.soslightbulbs.com/shop/customer/pages.php?pageid=77
You will also find Cold Cathode lamps that only pull 5watts – I personally really like them – even though they are more expensive.
I hope this is helpful!
Thanks, Jason, that’s helpful. I’ve had a hard time finding the right CFL bulbs for my house. Some of them flicker, and others don’t seem to work with dimmers. I’ll check out your site, and I’m sure some of my other readers will, too.
Thanks for writing about one of may favorite emerging technologies, Marc. While, as you say, LEDs are just on the cusp of being readyy for the retail market, they have another great advantage over CFLs: they are fully dimmable. Even the so-called “dimmable” CFLs can only be dimmed so far… they never go below about 50% of their original brightness. They also have the advantage that they are instant-on. Combined with their longer life and lack of mercury, it makes them worth it for some applications.