The Green Lighting Revolution Continues
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)
Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent light bulb was a civilization changing moment. However, unlike the airplane or automobile, the technology of the incandescent bulb has evolved relatively little in a hundred years. As far as the old bulb has taken us, it is not the portrait of efficiency. While we call them light bulbs, “heat bulbs” might be a more accurate description as 90% of the energy consumed by an incandescent bulb is released as heat, only 10% as visible light. Contrasting such miserable performance is the vastly more efficient technology of fluorescent lighting. While fluorescent lighting has been the industry standard for commercial applications for many decades, it was only until recently that a practical fluorescent alternative existed for the home. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), characterized by their often cork-screwed shape, represent the face of a new green revolution in how we light our homes.
If you’re not yet familiar with it, the compact fluorescent lamp is a radical leap forward in lighting efficiency. They use about 20-30 percent of the electricity consumed by an incandescent bulb of the same luminosity. This means that a 100 watt incandescent bulb can be replaced by a CFL that sips a mere 23 watts. Along with this ability to do more with less, CFLs have a lifespan ten times longer than conventional bulbs. According to the One Billion Bulbs campaign (www.onebillionbulbs.com), this combination of long life and frugal energy consumption means swapping a 100 watt conventional bulb with a CFL will save the consumer $88 dollars over its lifespan. Amazingly, that simple act of changing one bulb to a compact fluorescent will also prevent the release of over 800 pounds of C02. Mulling over the math, one wonders why CFLs haven’t found their way into every light socket in the nation. One reason is that public awareness of their benefits has been low (that’s changing), but another major hurdle has been price.
As recently as a few years ago, prices for CFLs were steep, up to $5- 7 per bulb. Even at this premium, the CFL remained a net money-maker for homeowners, yet the price was simply too high for consumers accustomed to light bulbs costing a quarter a piece. Today, CFLs are still more expensive than regular bulbs, but falling prices, bulk packs, and sales discounts allow them to be found for $1.50- 3.00 per bulb. This is great news for budget conscious green shoppers and the general public. Replacing an entire household’s incandescent army with CFLs is no longer the large upfront investment it was. In 2009, only 11% of home light sockets were utilizing CFLs, but an industry study later that year found 25% of all light bulb sales were compact fluorescent lamps, so usage is rapidly growing. Recent government changes to light bulb efficiency standards will only accelerate this trend toward eco-friendly illumination. In fact, it is pretty much certain that the incandescent bulb as we know it is soon to become largely extinct. As the CFL becomes ubiquitous, expect prices to continue to decline.
by Marc Swanson
Editor
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