by Christopher Smith

Created on: February 17, 2010

Does it pay to use Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) in your home?

My wife, Marion, and I have been living in the same home for ten years, and I have been keeping a spreadsheet of our electric and gas consumption since day one.  It was only during the last quarter of 2009 that we began swapping out incandescent lamps for CFLs, and I’m truly glad we did.

I just recently completed entering the utility data for January 2010 into my spreadsheet: the average electric use for the month of January over the nine preceding years was 592 KWH.  The usage for January 2010 was 371 KWH (or 63% of what we used to use)!  Included in the changeover to CFLs was swapping out the incandescent icicle lights (that we used to string on the house at Christmas time) for the LED-version of lights.

Whereas in years past we would refrain from turning on too many lights—especially the three 150 Watt high hat lamps in the kitchen ceiling and the three in the bedroom ceiling.  During a kitchen renovation about two years ago I removed the under cabinet fluorescent fixtures (it seemed I was frequently replacing those lamps) and installed puck lighting.  A total of ten puck lights—six on one circuit and four on another circuit, each rated at 20 Watts (for a total of 200 Watts) provided more and steadier lighting over the counter space.  However, when we switched from incandescent lamps to CFLs for the kitchen high hats (in the ceiling) and Tiffany-style pendant lamps over the kitchen peninsula we no longer found it necessary to burn the puck lights when at the stove and kitchen sink.  It is only on rare occasions that we revert to using the puck-lighting for greater visibility.

In fact, we have more lights burning in our home now that we have discovered the savings to be realized by using CFLs.  And one additional feature of these lamps is what I refer to as the gradual ramping-up to full brightness.  Have you ever had reason to go into the kitchen or the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning, and when you turn on the lights you feel like you're in an interrogation room?  Well, the CFLs first come on with a dim, yellowish tint, then they slowly brighten to full brightness, which is so much easier on the eyes at that hour of the morning.

Learn more about this author, Christopher Smith.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.