How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act
Posted by: jyantis, in Energy, In the NewsThe Australian Government is taking steps towards lowering energy consumption by switching from traditional incandescent light bulbs to more efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). New Zealand is expected to follow suit. To understand why this means anything to you or me, we need to understand a couple of things.
So, science lesson time… How does a lightbulb work?
In a good ol’ incandescent, a filament is resistance heated until it is white hot (just like your toaster oven) and produces the yellow-y glow we’ve come to know and love everytime we flip on the switch. In CFLs, gases in the bulb are excited by electric field and create ultraviolet light which reacts with a phosphor coating inside the bulb to produce visible light. Since waste heat isn’t produced in mass quantity, it’s a much more energy efficient process. The light from CFLs tends to be more of a white-ish or blue-ish hue. CFLs also take a couple of seconds to “warm up,” so give them a minute or two to get to their full brightness.
editor’s note: Floursecents also last much longer than their incandescent counerparts. Incandescent lights fail quickly due to a phenomenon known as grain growth. At higher temperatures (filaments soar past 1000 Farenheit), the “Grains”, or particles, that make up the metal wire will grow in size, canabilizing neighboring grains without mercy, until they take up the entire thickness of the wire, and it looks like bamboo. Larger grains result in a weaker material. At this point, it is very easy for the filament to snap, with a tiny jolt or vibration. Using a thicker filament requires higher power draw to get the same light production, so incandescent technology is pretty much lost the battle in this regard.
Next question… why should you care?
Australia’s not the only government wanting to pass legislation on what kind of light bulbs should be used within its borders. The “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act” is the brainchild of California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine. If his legislation is passed, incandescent lights in California will be replaced with CFLs by 2012. There is similar legislation in the works in other states, including New Jersey.
How does this change effect the environment?
The Rocky Mountain Institute, a US energy research facility, estimates that replacing a 75-watt incandescent with a 20-watt CFL saves 1300 lbs of carbon dioxide over the life of the bulb.* The Australian Environment Minister projected that by 2015, the switch from incandescents to CFLs would reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions by four million tons per year and reduce the electricity consumption by the continent five fold. Also, the incandescent bulb life is around 750 hours, compared to the 10,000 hour bulb life of a CFL. Sure, they’re a little more expensive up front, but they last a ridiculously long time.
editor’s note: 1300 lbs of CO2 is a lot. Buring one gallon of gasoline in the engine of your car, for instance, produces 20.8 lbs of CO2. That’s about 4 tanks of gas.
Story time…
My husband and I bought a house over the summer and he asked our builder to replace the would-be incandescents with CFLs. My husband works at GE, and part of their eco-magination mentality is CFL use. Honestly, you can’t really tell the difference in the amount of light that’s generated. And they’re made in the right shapes and wattages for use in almost any light fixture in the house. Other than the couple of seconds it takes for the CFLs to get going, the brightness is on par with traditional lighting. The big difference is when you see your energy bill. CFLs will save you money over the long haul. Period.
So, if you don’t want to change out our lightbulbs to save the environment or because big government tells you to, do it to save a couple bucks on your electricity bill each month. It’s okay to be selfish once and awhile.
For more information on CFLs, check out GE Lighting’s site.
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