Energy Saving Globes

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Energy saver globes are an efficient way to stop global warming.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps A typical old fashioned light globe uses 60w of power but only 10% of that produces light - 90% of the power used is wasted as heat!

The alternative is to switch to Energy saving globes - also known as Compact Fluorescent lamps because basically they are just small versions of fluoro tubes. They use about a quarter (or less) of the power of regular incandescent globes and last at least 5 times longer. There are a variety of shapes and sizes available to fit most light fixtures as well as a full range of power ratings to give different levels of brightness.

The colour & quality of the light produced by compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) is actually pretty good. You can now get a range of colours from 'daylight' - a pretty harsh looking white light - to natural or warm - which have the more yellow sort of light that the old school globes have.

Hot Tips - How I switched to Energy Saving Globes

I started by creating a table so that I could walk around the house and take note of what type of light fitting each room currently had, whether it had enough light and what type of globe would be most suitable as a replacement. You can download my lighting assessment table here

CFLs are available to fit almost all light fittings. After going through my house room by room - which took about 5 minutes - I was able to make a list of what I could replace. I wasn't able to do anything with the kitchen lights because they were halogen downlights plus a fluoro tube.

The fluoro tube is already energy efficient but the halogen lights aren't - don't be fooled into thinking that being low voltage makes halogen lights energy saving, it's the wattage that matters. Good or bad though, the only option with the halogens would be to change the actual fixtures - not a task for today.

To choose the right wattage for each situation buy a CFL that is a quarter to a fifth of the regular globe you're replacing. For example if you need to replace a 60w regular globe use a CFL between 12 & 15w depending on how bright you need.

Unless you have a special need for harsh white light I seriously Recommend avoiding the 'cool white' globes and choosing 'warm white' for all inhabitable areas. If you want to get technical about it Cool White has a colour temperature of around 5000K while Warm White has a colour temperature of about 2700K.

Essential Details

Cost to make this change - a few dollars per globe
Time to make this change - under 10 mins to assess requirements then half an hour to change globes.

Benefits to you - Energy Saving Globes cost more to buy, but because you replace them much less often and they use much less power you will ultimately save money. An 18watt CFL used in place of a 75 watt incandescent will save about 570 kWh over its lifetime. At 8 cents per kWh, you'll save about $45 from one globe.

Benefits to the environment - Lighting uses up to 25% of your homes energy. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO₂ out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb.

Tools & Resources on energy saving globes

Download & print the energy efficient lighting assessment form

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