An article a few months ago in Business 2.0 Magazine talked about how Wal-Mart was really pushing compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs as a way to save energy.
If you’re not familiar with CF bulbs, you’ve probably seen them – they’re funny looking, spiraled light bulbs.
Now, we’re automatically dubious of anything Wal-Mart might be promoting, but we went ahead and tried a few of these bulbs.
They take a little getting used to. For example, there’s sometimes a slight (1-2 second) delay when you flick the switch, as compared to regular bulbs, which start instantly.
If CF bulbs are cold, they may initially be dimmer than normal, and brighten up over 60 to 90 seconds.
The bulbs cost as much as five times the cost of a regular bulb. But, the electrical cost savings are pretty dramatic – they use about 80% less electricity than regular bulbs. Plus, they last almost 10 times as long as regular bulb. In the long run, they’re quite a money saver.
At home, we’ve replaced most of our regular light bulbs with CF bulbs, and have a notable, demonstrated drop of almost $25 per month on our electric bill.
Take a few minutes to Google “compact fluorescent” and check them out for yourself. You’ll be happy with the cost savings.