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Light Globe Replacements and Savings |
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One of the first tasks we have undertaken in an attempt to limit our ecological footprint is to reduce the amount of energy used in the lights throughout the house. A quick audit of all the lights revealed that we had a total of 3080 wattage in light globes (see the table below for details). The next step was to head to the local hardware and see what we could replace them with (Considerations when deciding which CFLs to use). $212 dollars later and a lot of light bulb replacing have now reduced the total light wattage by approximately two thirds to 958 watts (and we can still do a little better yet). Two issues arose from this exercise which are yet to be resolved. They are that; - We have been unable to find a suitable replacement for the 50 watt MR16 halogen reflector lamps in the kitchen (being that they are used in the kitchen we still require reasonably bright lighting)
- The light shade covers in the Lounge and Dinning rooms are very thin and no globe wider than approx 36mm will fit them (the thinnest CFL we have located to date is about 40mm wide)
I have posed the above questions to some lighting manufacturers and in summary have received answers along the lines of the following (The full question and answer is posted in the forum); - Basically technology is not quite there yet with MR16 halogen replacements (at least for the brighter light requirements). See question and full response in forum
- The thin light shade covers we have are rare (normally they are not so thin). So we can either change the light shades or wait and see what happens with further technological developments. See question and full response in forum
As a side issue to replacing my CFL’s, I did some investigation into the mercury debate and how environmentally friendly they are. See what we found about about CFL's and Environmental Issues.
What we have achived through replacing light globes | Room | Original Ligting | Total Original
Watts | Replacments Made | New Total Watts | Cost | | Kitchen | 4x 12v, 50 watt MR16 halogen reflector lamps | 200 | | 200 | | | Laundry | 1x 75 watt incandescent | 75 | 1x 15 watt CFL | 15 | $8 | | Lounge/Sitting | 3x 40 watt incandescent | 120 | | 120 | | | Dining | 3x 40 watt incandescent | 120 | | 120 | | | Hall | 1x 75 watt incandescent | 75 | 1x 5 watt CFL | 5 | $8 | | Bedroom 1 | 5x 40 watt incandescent | 200 | 5x 8 watt CFL | 40 | $40 | | Bedroom 2 | 1x 100 watt incandescent | 100 | 1x 20 watt CFL | 20 | $9 | | Bedroom 3 | 1x 100 watt incandescent | 100 | 1x 20 watt CFL | 20 | $9 | | Bathroom | 4x 275 watt (heater lamps)
1x 60 watt incandescent | 1160 | 4x 23 watt CFL
(replace the 275 watt)
May revert back to
two of the heater
globes during the cold months only | 152 | $80 | | Ensuite | 2x 275 watt (heater lamps)
1x 60 watt incandescent | 610 | 2x 23 watt CFL
(replace the 275 watt) | 106 | $40 | | Outside Lights | 2x 100 watt | 200 | 2x 20 watt CFL | 40 | $18 | Other Lamps
(eg Bedside) | 3 x 40 watt | 120 | | 120 | | | TOTAL | | 3080 | | 958 | $212 |
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