Overview

Today, many homes across the United States are saving more energy by switching from incandescent light bulbs to more energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Not only do you save energy, but you also save a little money, and help save the environment, all at once.

So how much money will I save by switching over?

Compact fluorescent light bulbs typically use about 1/4th the energy consumption of comparable incandescent light bulbs. That means energy will be saved, guaranteed by switching over. But by how much and is it worth it? Let’s take a look at the table below. The last column shows how much energy can be saved if compact fluorescent bulbs were used instead of incandescent bulbs. This is assuming that each bulb is used about 4 hours in a given day. I know, this is just an average number. Some people may use more and others may use less. If you have a lamp fixture that uses incandescent bulb all the time, say 24 hrs, every day, all year, then you can save 6x as much energy as shown on the last column.

This is great but I don’t know what those numbers mean, you might ask. Well, to simplify, instead of using energy units, let’s use dollar signs. The electricity rates differ greatly depending on where you live. For instance, in California, the average rate is 15.29 cents per kWh. In West Virginia, the average rate is 6.51 cents per kWh. The national average cost per kWh is about 10.42 cents. Where I live, in Baltimore Metropolitan area, my local gas and electric company charges me 11.97 cents per kWh (Maryland average is 13.57 cents). Now, let’s see what that equates to in dollars saved over the course of a year, using a 10w compact fluorescent bulb instead of a 40w incandescent bulb.

You can find the average rates for all other states here.

As you can see, you’re not going to save millions of dollars to change your life. But these figures are for replacement of ONE bulb. To give you perspective, I counted about 54 light bulbs I use around and inside my house. For simplicity, let’s assume they’re all 40w incandescent bulbs. I can save $282.96 (54 x $5.24) every year simply by replacing them with 10w compact fluorescent bulbs.

Aren’t Compact Fluorescent bulbs more expensive?

The answer is yes and no. Let’s investigate how long it will take to pay back the costs of the replacement bulbs.

At Amazon.com, a pack of four 40w bulbs costs $5.86 or $1.47 each. A comparable 10w compact fluorescent bulb goes for $23.97 for a pack of 6 or $4.00 a piece. So, yes, the more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs cost about 2.75x the cost of their counterpart incandescent bulbs. The table below summarizes how much it will cost through the life of these bulbs.

This is again assuming only consuming 4 hours a day every day which equates to approximately 6,000 hours. Let’s complete the math here. I’m going to use my house as an example. Again, I have 54 bulbs in and around my house.

That’s another savings of $65/year on the cost. So, although compact fluorescent bulbs costs more on individual basis alone, it actually costs less when you consider the life expectancy of the bulbs. To sum everything up, by switching all the light bulbs in my house to compact fluorescent light bulbs, I will save $283 on energy savings and $65 on cost savings for a total savings of $348 every year! The bulbs will have paid for itself in just about 9 months. After that, it’s all savings!

What’s the proper way to dispose compact fluorescent light bulbs?

Please check with your local county or community recycling program to see if they have any special procedures set up for recycling CFL bulbs. If your local government does not offer a special recycling program for CFLs, your local Home Depot stores have their own CFL recycling program. Please do not dispose these bulbs with your household garage. New York Department of Environmental Conservation provides good detailed information on the mercury content of CFLs and how to properly dispose them.

Have you switched?

Update May 25, 2010: As technology improves every day, compact fluorescent bulbs are the norm nowadays and the incandescent bulbs are slowly being phased out. GE recently announced a light bulb that may make CFL obsolete one day. The 17-year LED light bulb will save consumers energy and money as its life cycle is 17 years. It’s scheduled to be in the local store shelves end of 2010 or early 2011.