Are you ready for an easy Sunday project to save you money and help the environment? It is fairly easy and takes a relatively low investment. Change your light bulbs.
Most places in the United States still have old incandescent light bulbs. Those bulbs are cheaper up front, which is why people still buy them, but use more power to create the same light as their greener counterpart, compact florescent (CFC) bulbs.
Old bulbs use about 75% more electricity than CFC bulbs. Additionally, CFCs have longer lifespans. Now I will talk in business terms. The break even period for the average American household is one year. If you buy a $5 CFC bulb today, it will have paid for itself in savings in one year. After that, you are “profitable” on the investment.
So go out today to WalMart or another discount retailer and pop the $5 per bulb. I personally would not change closets or laundry rooms until the bulbs there go out, but I definitely would change bulbs in the most used parts of the house.
My house is old and has 2 bulb light fixtures. There are two fixtures in the living room/family room that are almost always on (someone is usually awake in the room) and two bedrooms are also highly used. That is 8 bulbs, or $40, that I think should be changed right away. Any high use room should be high on your list.
Incandescent bulbs are no longer legal in many parts of the world. Our northern neighbors, Canada, have already made the switch. The US will be making the move by 2014. You, however, can be ahead of the curve. The savings are real. Change your bulbs today.
