October 30, 2007

Green: Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Yes, the L is for lamp, not light. A light is a fixture, while a bulb is a lamp. When you put them together, you have a luminaire… You learn these sorts of things living with an interior designer… Just as she’s learned the difference between disc and drum brakes

I’ve begun reading a few personal finance blogs, which I’ve found to be numerous, full of intelligent discussion, and really my type of thing since most of them try to stray people from the norm AND they deal with money…

Over on Get Rich Slowly, they did a piece of CFLs. Surely you’ve heard of them, you likely haven’t converted to them, and you really should. Caitlin and I have changed out the majority of our bedroom and family room lights with them, and while we haven’t charted the energy savings, I’m sure it’s there (based on the findings of the article).

Example: We replaced our overhead lamps, which were 100w, with what I believe are 15w CFLs. We also replaced our 60w reading lamps (and two in the family room) with 12w equivalents. Estimated savings? A rough, rough, quick estimate says at least $5 per month on those 6 lamps that we have replaced.

The downsides of a CFL? (1) They have a warm-up time, which I don’t really mind. When I turn on one of the big suckers, it doesn’t reach full brightness for ~45 seconds. Walking in from a dark room to that is kind of nice, actually, you’re not shocked with light. (2) They contain a tiny bit of Mercury. We have yet to have any burn out, and with their estimated lifespan at what it is, I doubt we’ll be in this house to see them burn out, but even if they do, there are many local places (Ikea, some supermarkets, other local facilites) that have free disposal of them. (3) Initial cost is quite a bit higher than an incandescent, but when you factor in how much longer they last and how much they save you in electricity, they end up paying for themselves within a few months. After that, it’s all gravy.

So go out and replace some of your bulbs with CFLs. Do nature a favor, do your wallet a favor, and feel good about both.

Comments

Jess

October 30, 2007

We did this after our porch LAMP was blowing out every couple weeks. Since we started with the CFL, we’ve only replaced it once in probably 2 years.
Best ever
Mike

October 30, 2007

If it was blowing out every couple weeks, there is an issue with the wiring in your house… At least… I think you’re trying to make a case about CFL being crap because it only lasted two years?

Seriously, you might want to have an electrician come out.
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

I think she was saying it’s better because it blows out every 2 years, instead of every few weeks. That said, Mike’s right… it shouldn’t blow out that often. I had mine for 3 years at the old house’s porch and it was still going strong.

A word of warning about cleanup should they break.
http://community.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/CFLs-What-About-Mercury.html
Mike

October 30, 2007

Based on an e-mail I received earlier today saying “your blog isn’t too frugal,” I assumed she was being negative towards the longevity of CFLs.

You have also reminded me that we replaced all three of our outside fixtures with CFLs and fewer of them (12 total incandescents were reduced to 3 total CFLs). Those lights are on all night long… There has to be some significant savings there!
Jess

October 30, 2007

Chris is right…I’m happy it has only blown out once. There is a problem with all the wiring in the neighborhood and they were all blowing out…then our management company suggested going to CFLs, so we did.

Jr – Not everyone is trying to make a case against you…geez.
Mike

October 30, 2007

Then what was “your blog isn’t too frugal” about? Huh, Ms. “I run a second freezer so I can buy frozen items when they’re on sale to ultimately think I’m saving money?”
Jess

October 30, 2007

You need to get the chip off your shoulder…I’ll rip it off for you, along with your head. You make me crazy! As if one crying baby isn’t enough!
Mike

October 30, 2007

Don’t be a baby. I was just making an assumption based on something you said earlier. Seems reasonable, no? I still have no idea what you meant by “your blog isn’t frugal.”
Jess

October 30, 2007

Where did I say that? All I remember saying was:
“That isn’t very thrifty…like your most recent post. You should buy when on sale”
Mike

October 30, 2007

I was so off base… Paraphrased as \\\”Your most recent post isn\\\’t too thrifty\\\” is TOTALLY different than \\\”Your most recent post isn\\\’t too frugal.\\\”

Again, what wasn\\\’t very thrifty about this post? I\’m not trying to be a butthole, I\’m really just trying to figure out what you were saying!
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

Who’s not getting along now?

While you’re attempting to be “more green” Mike, you should install one of these.

http://cache.smarthome.com/images/2509a.jpg

You could cut your consumption for the outdoor lights by nearly half by having them turn off when you really don’t need them (i.e. 3am).
Jess

October 30, 2007

Haha, I’m just trying to take some of the focus off you guys for awhile. I guess I meant to say “unlike your most recent post”??? I have a baby in one arm and can only type with one hand…give me a break….give me a break…break me of a piece of that hmm hmm hmm. (If you haven’t seen The Office yet, then that didn’t make sense) [smiley]
Beej

October 30, 2007

Fun facts:
Apr 2006 to Jun 2007: -698kWh
May 2006 to May 2007: -343kWh
Jun 2006 to Jun 2007: -186kWh
Jul 2006 to Jul 2007: -1166kWh
Aug 2006 to Aug 2007: -485kWh
Sep 2006 to Sep 2007: -310kWh
Oct 2006 to Oct 2007: +112kWh

Mostly went down over the past year…but I refuse to tribute that to the ‘lamps’ (not saying they’re a bad idea, but I can’t tolerate a 45 second wait (yeah right, by the way) before they light up my room). Even though we have one more person living with us, there are the following factors:

– G moved out (his computer and that fucking space heater were on 24/7)
– Your computer was on 24/7 too, right? before it went downstairs, anyway

S’all I got.
Mike

October 30, 2007

Chris, link to more info? Problem I immediately see is that our outside lights are part of a 4-switch panel.

Jessie, if someone has yet to see that episode, they shouldn’t be at this site.

BJ, my computer wasn’t on 24/7, but that is quite hilarious that we substituted one guy for two girls (who use hair driers like they’re going out of style), added a plasma TV, and still reduced our consumption by a great deal amount. My guess is that the lights only reduce the bill by about 60kWh per month… You really do get used to the warm up time…
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

Weather plays a pretty big role too… depending on whether it’s gas or electric heat. October was exceptionally warm this year so could that be the AC?
Mike

October 30, 2007

Just thought about it. Hell, I don’t ever need outside lights on for a good reason other than security. Since that’s the only reason they’re on, I don’t think I’d want to invest money in to turning them off.
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

re: switch

I couldn’t find them on Lowes or Home Depot but they’re readily available at both. It’s basically a clock that wires into where the switch used to be. You set on/off times and the fancier ones can even use “sunset” as the on (with auto-adjust for changing seasons).

They’re designed to fit in the same face plate opening as one of those wide rocker switches. If you have the toggle style switches then you’d need one of these.

http://image.bizrate.com/resize?sq=60&uid=577248785∣=55823
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

The other option is to put them on a motion sensor. The light on our driveway is actually on both (only because the motion sensor was pre-wired) and it works well.
Mike

October 30, 2007

Next question… do I feel like playing with a rental property? I’ve done light switches before, but is the payoff worth the investment?

One thing that everyone SHOULD have (including me), is a thermostat timer… No sense in heating the house (to a comfortable level) when nobody is home or when you’re asleep. I definitely need to look in to those… Did some quick googling and it looks like you can save 20% of your energy by installing one.
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

I guess it really depends on how committed you are to saving money and/or energy. You can save the old switch and take the timer with you when you go… I did.

I have an thero-timer and swear by them. Opponents say it’s more expensive to “bring your house back to temp” than to keep it there, but I don’t believe that. It’s different when you have kids or stay-at-homes but it’s a no-brainer with a house full of working people.

They now have internet programmable ones. I don’t think they’re cost-effective (yet), but the ability to adjust it via remote seems like it could come in handy.
Mike

October 30, 2007

Based on my searching, the opponents don’t seem to have any data, while the proponents do.
Jess

October 30, 2007

Wow, great minds…I was just coming back here to post about the programmable thermostats. We don’t have one, but I really want one! Who wants to install it for me? Sounds like a job for Uncle Mikey!
Mike

October 30, 2007

Never done it, but looks like cake… Just a couple of wires.
Jess

October 30, 2007

Exactly…I’ll put it on my want list.
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

They really are very easy. If I remember correctly, I think the wires are color-coded and have pressure-grip fittings (push them in and they stay).

You also get the added benefit of adjusting it while you’re in the house. I have our heat down to like 66° at night because we’re under the covers and come back up a half hour before my wife wakes up so she doesn’t freeze after a shower. Then it goes down to 62° during the day and starts back up a half hour before we get home.

While you’re at it, you should make sure it at least has a weekend program since behaviors are often dramatically different. Mine does by day, which is a little granular IMO, by could work for scheduled WFH days.

Mine also reports hourly usage so I can easily see what adjusting the thermostat a few degrees does. That and it will tell me when I should replace the filter because I’ve reach x hours of filtration.

A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. The fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save.

P.S. – Can you change the width of this text entry box to like 800px? It’s freaking annoying.
cd's nuts

October 30, 2007

One last item…

http://www.cetsolar.com/ventcover.htm

Makes a huge difference when you live in a house with more rooms than what you need. You can also use it to help direct cold air up in the summer and hot air down in the winter. Just closing the vents really doesn’t do very much. That reminds me, I need to move mine from the basement to the bedrooms. [smiley]
Mike

October 30, 2007

Testing that I didn’t break anything else with the new American-sized comment box.

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