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.

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.