Flourescent lighting question?

1. you would go from around 60 watts to around 13 to 20 watts per compact fluorescent bulb. Sometimes the manufacturers are overly optimistic about the savings on these things.

2. Sometimes a lot longer and sometimes not. Supposedly, they're supposed to last a lot longer.

3. Now that incandescents are out of favor usually 4 for a dollar.

4. Compact fluorescents cost around 4 bucks apiece.

Some things to consider. You can't use a fluorescent on a dimmer switch. If you have a light sensor that turns the light off in the daytime, you can't use that with a fluorescent.

If dropped and they break, fluorescents are an environmental hazard as they contain mercury.

They don't work well in cold weather and have to warm up and until they do, they're dimmer than normal.

The light is bluish and sometimes rather harsh.

Before these things became popular, I remember that on the tube type bulbs a study that was trying to link them to various ailments.

This article claims that these things may be harmful for some people.

You ask several questions which require several answers which can only be generalities, but I'll pass my experience on to you just so you won't be "in the dark" (hehe).

1- The amount you save will depend on the "watt" difference and the amount your local power company charges per "kilowatt hour",

2- I have seen claims of "12,000 hours". Flourescents do last longer because they burn much cooler than incandescents and their gasses don't "wear out" like a wire filament does. How much longer could range from a few months to several years.

3- Cost of incandescents is relatively inexpensive, a four-pack for $1.50 up to $11.00 for a 300 watt utility bulb, which you probably would never use.

4- Flourescent cost is "problematic". I have done a bit of comparing prices in the past few weeks and at one store the lights I use can cost $5.99 just for one, but at another store I can buy a package of two for $6.99 which is nearly a quarter of the first price. I have also noticed that buying multi-packs is generally less expensive per bulb...but not always!

Before you rush out and buy a bunch of flourescent bulbs though there is an asthetic factor that you haven't asked about that will affect you somewhat if only on a subconscious level. Flourecents use different amounts, kinds and pressures of gasses in them which cause them to burn at different colors. Usually this is expressed as a four digit number followed by a "K" such as "3500K". The lower this number is the more yellowish the light will be. The higher the number is the more whitish the light will be. I prefer the "6500K" flourescents personally, but I think most people fall inbetween the "3500K" and "5000K" range. I had walls that were yellow so when I shined "soft white" florescents on them them room was too depressingly dark for me so I changed them all to "daylight"- the "6500K" bulbs.

Keep in mind though that most of these spiral flourescent lights are not compatible with "dimming circuits", wet locations, enclosed-recessed fixtures, and/or extreme cold. Florescents also last longer if they are NOT turned of and on a lot!!

Good luck, I hope I didn't confuse you more!

A month to month comparision is not valid. The "savings" listed on the package of the cfl is over the lifetime of the bulb. The particular one I looked at is an 8000 hour bulb. So if you have the bulb on 4 hours a day, then the savings will be $24 over 2000 days or nearly 7 years. Not going to notice that in the ole monthly electric bill. Plus the loss of heat from changing to cfl's will also result in your furnance running more often, which will offset some of the savings and the timing of your bulb change coincides with a decrease in the number of daylight hours, so the number of hours you have your lights on is probably higher. What I'm really curious about is the impact on the environment due to all the mercury being dumped into landfills once these things have to be replaced. I can remember when you could not eat fish because of high mercury levels. Here we go again! If you really want to get away from incandescent bulbs, then go with LED's. The alleged advantages are the same. The reduced heat output will save on air conditioning costs, although that is offset somewhat if not entirely by increased heating costs, without the mercury. My final point is, since Washington has passed legislation to ban incandescents, then the available replacements will be both more expensive to buy and do more damage then good. Its not like a politician will take the time to consider the overall impact of a move such as this.

My father owns a lighting company, so I hope I am answering your questions correctly...

1. You can save up to 30% per year...

2. Flourescents last 5 times longer than incandescents.

3. It would depend on what wattage you are looking for...

4. Much the same price as an incandescent, also depending on your wattage.

P.S Flourescents aren't very nice to put in your home, they give off a nasty white colour!

Before too long, the entire country will go to fluorescent bulbs. They last about 4 times longer and use about 1/4 the wattage of incandescent bulbs. You will save money. Australia has already

discontinued the use of incandescents, and other countries will soon follow. As far as specific numbers go, I don't have any for you right now, but I can tell you that I started using fluorescents 2 years ago, and have not had any go out on me yet. You can buy the fluorescents in a bulk package for a reduced price and replace your incandescents one at a time. What have you got to loose?

Go to this site to get your true cost and you will see how much more cost efficient they are for your place: http://www.sdearthtimes.com/ET_Lighting_Calc.html

The potential savings from lighting are especially impressive. Regular incandescent light bulbs have used the same primitive operating principle for the past century: a coiled wire, usually tungsten, glows under electricity in a glass vacuum. This method is much like a joke without a punch line: Only five percent of the electricity is actually converted into light. The rest is wasted in heat.

I hope I helped with my limited knowledge.

Have a Blessed day

I did a quick calculation on the back of an envelope... for each CFL I used instead of an incandescent bulb, I broke even on the higher cost of the bulb vs. the lower amount of electricity used in less than a year. After that, I saved about $21/yr per bulb... and in my experience, CFLs last 5-7 years for me.

Then there's the carbon footprint issue...

for example : electricity cost 10 cents kilowatt/hour

the light bulb is 100 watts : 10 hours = 1000 watt/hours = 10 cents

100 watts x10 hours= 1000 watts = 10 cents

so now it's up to you to figure it out.. unless you need a bulb that will be ON at least 6 hours a day, you won't save that much money.

Fluorescent last 4 times longer than incandescent

Check with your electric company. Mine subsidizes CFL at certain times. You go to Ace hardware and show your ID and you can get so many for free or a real cheap price. That way it is definitely worth it. The only problem I have is that because of the restrictions and changes in the bulbs I now have two different types one a loop and the other a spiral.

keep in mind most florescent sold at big box store are rated for a lower Kelvin temperature, typically 3300-3500K, commerical lighting is typically cool white, about 4100K, so you need not worry too much about the light cast off being an cool white or even greenish tint.

but what no one really talks about is the side effects of going florescent, in that all florescent lamps contain mercury

and many people simply throw those away into the trash.

so much for going green huh