CFLs and LEDs and You - Part II

In part I we discussed why Compact Fluorescent bulbs make a lot of financial sense in most applications in the home.  And the historical issue of harsh light is mostly a thing of the past (if you remember to buy the correct color temperature bulb).  But CFLs are not all dim-able, still may not instantly illuminate when turned on, and often take several seconds to reach full brightness.  But after a few weeks of use most people adjust.

However, we’ve yet to cover perhaps the most controversial subject for CFLs, and haven't touched on LED lighting.

A Tightly Sealed Door in 30 Seconds

If you've spent any time trying to tighten a seal on a door, you know it can be a pain.  You adjust the weather stripping - perhaps replace it, adjust the strike plate, and try to find the balance where the door operates easily yet forms a tight seal.  If you have all the weather stripping handy and a bit of experience, perhaps you get a workable solution in 15 to 30 minutes.

However, I am hear to tell you that you can actually fix a poorly sealed door in 30 seconds or less without replacing weather stripping and without relocating the strike plate using a very simple gadget.  These 30 seconds will be worth dollars saved on your electric bill, and you'll wonder why all exterior doors don't have this product installed.

CFL's and You...How I Save $300 a Year

OK, you knew it had to happen sooner or later.  Time for that age-old stereotypical discussion of incandescent vs compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs).  And we'll throw in LED lights for good measure, too.  In fact , there is so much to discuss, we’ll break this up into a two part series, with a cost analysis of CFLs and discussion of light quality in part I, and a further discussion of CFLs and introduce LEDs in part II.

I showed earlier this week how switching just 5 light bulbs save me $124 annually. And you can get eight 13 watt GE CFLs for only $7 at Amazon!

Almost everyone knows that CFLs use much less electricity, and depending on where and how they are used, might last several years longer than incandescent bulbs. Further, since they are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, they produce much less heat - a double bonus for the summer months.

But even with all of these pluses, you need to avoid some common CFL pitfalls and understand a few properties of the bulbs to get the most out of them.

Make A Kilowatt-Hour Make Cents

I think most people are aware the primary unit of power is the watt. Even the non-scientifically inclined know that many light bulbs are rated in watts, or at the very least that Marty McFly needed 1.21 gigawatts of power to get back home.

Then why is it that electric companies charge based on kilowatt-hours?  And how can this knowledge be used to reduce your electric bill?

First of all, a watt is actually a very small unit of power in the grand scheme. As we've already shown, a single computer system can use 250 watts or more power. Now consider a typical household with multiple TV's, computers, air conditioning units, lights, clock radios, cell phones charging, clothes dryers, ovens, etc all operating. At any given time well over a thousand watts may be used. Kilo means 1000, so measuring household and commercial power in kilowatts makes sense.

OK, I Understand Kilo...but why Hours?

If I turn on every light in my house for 20 minutes, should I be charged the same amount of money by the electric company as someone running every light in their house for 24 hours a day? Obviously, the answer is no.

Four Ways to Reduce Computing Cost by $100 or More A Year

Computers are one of the larger power drains in many homes. To demonstrate this point, I used my Kill A Watt and measured my HP Pavilion Media Center, with all of the peripherals connected (printer, external hard drive, monitor) in a number of scenarios. When everything was all "fired up" and running, I was using 290 watts!

If I left everything running but wasn't actively working, power consumption dropped to 220 watts. Let's say I'm lazy and I happen to leave the computer on all day while I'm sleeping and at work (about 18 hours). Using the Home Power Saver Calculator, 18 hours of 220 watt consumption equates to $179 wasted every year (my electric rate is 12.5 cents/KwH).

Solution #1: Be Lazy

The obvious solution is Don't Be Lazy and turn things off when you are done. However, you can actually be lazy and still save power.

Home Energy Terminology Guide

Over the coming weeks a wide range of topics will be discussed, possibly introducing new terminology and acronyms. Well talk about CFL's, LED's, Solar PV panels, calculating kilowatt-hours, insulation types, and many more topics.

To help with all this terminology, I've created the Home Power Saver's Terminology Guide. I've populated it initially with many of the most common terms we encounter, such as kilowatt-hour (KwH), vampire power, etc. As new terms and acronyms are introduced, I'll be maintaining the page to insure everyone is on the 'same page'. And my goal will be to ensure the definitions used here are simple and easy to understand.

If an energy savings related term or acronym is leaving you confused, leave a comment and I'll add it to the list.

And one last note - both the Power Savings Calculator and the Home Power Saver's Terminology page are permanently linked on our home page.

Introducing the Power Savings Calculator

I've created a new tool to allow anyone to quickly determine how much money a planned purchase or behavioral change may save.

Have you ever wondered just how much leaving the light on all night costs you?  Or how much money you'll really save if you replace a lightbulb with a compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb?  Perhaps you are contemplating buying a Smart Strip and wonder if the amount of power it saves will be worthwhile?

In any of those cases, simply use the power savings calculator to find out.  All you need to know is how much power you will be saving (in watts), how many hours per day you will be saving that power, and what your electricity rate is (in the US, typically between 9 and 13 cents).

Use the Power Savings Calculator to calculate your money saved based on the amount of power you've saved.

1. Enter your local power price in cents.  This is typically measured in cents per KwH (kilowatt-hour).  Typical prices range from 9 to 13 cents.
2. Determine how many watts of power were saved.  For example, if you replace a 60 watt light bulb with a 12 watt CFL, you will have saved 48 w.
3. Enter how many hours per day you are saving that power.  For example, if that light runs for 4 hours per day, you'd enter 4 hours per day.

INPUT DATA
Cost Per KwH	cents
Watts Saved
Hours Used Per Day
RESULTS
Daily Savings	dollars
Monthly Savings	dollars
Yearly Savings	dollars

You may be wondering how to determine how much power is being saved. the lightbulb example above is easy, but how do you calculate 'vampire power' that electronics draw even when supposedly off? For that, you may need a Kill A Watt or some other power measuring device. I like the Kill-a-watt because of its easy of use.

Using the kill-a-watt, I determined that my stereo/TV center was using about 22 watts of power that I was able to reduce using the Smart Strip mentioned above. That saves me about $16 per year, and the beauty of the smart strip is that unlike regular power strips, the smart strip allows you to keep critical components powered on all the time. For example, if you have Direct TV and ever power off your DVR, you know it can take 5 minutes or more for it to boot up and re-sync with the satellites. The smart strip allows you to power off everything else, but leave that DVR connected.