Make the switch to compact fluorescent bulbs
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Replacing your normal incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs is one of the first things you’re told to do by greenies, and I’m sure you’ve heard about it already! But I wouldn’t feel right not mentioning it, because it really is one of the easiest things you can change that will help reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.
CFLs use 66-75% less electricity to light a room than an incandescent bulb. This means less pollution is caused by the coal-fired power plants most Aussies get their electricity from. As a bonus, they last longer than normal bulbs - over 8000 hours of light compared to just 1000 for incandescents. That means less energy is wasted on making new ones, packaging them and shipping them around.
According to calculations by the Sustainable Energy Development Office in WA, switching all your lights to CFLs for a year will save you about $80 off your electricity bill, and prevent over 600kg of greenhouse gas emissions from getting into the atmosphere.
But don’t they have mercury in them?
CFLs do have a small amount of mercury in them (2 milligrams), which is necessary for them to work. Mercury can be hazardous if you inhale it, or if we let it pile up in landfill, or puff it up into the atmosphere. But each CFL has less mercury in it than the amount created by using an incandescent light bulb - this is because mercury is a byproduct of coal-fired power generation. CFLs use less coal-fired power, so there’s another good reason to switch!
The mercury in an unbroken CFL isn’t a problem for you, but don’t just chuck used CFLs in your bin, or in with your recycling. The bulbs can be recycled, but your local council’s recycling program probably isn’t set up for it yet and a nationwide collection system is still being developed. In the meanwhile, find a place that accepts “hazardous” waste like paints, oils, and so on - stuff that shouldn’t be left to sit in landfill - and see if they’ll take your bulbs. Otherwise, check this list of disposers - so far it looks like NSW, VIC and SA have more options than the rest of us.
Because of that little bit of mercury, you should also be a little bit careful about how you clean up a broken CFL. The steps at the environment.gov.au site are similar to what you’d have to do if you broke a thermometer.
We’ve started to switch
I have CFLs in our living room, dining room, bedroom and bathroom. The rest of the house still has incandescents, but they’ll get replaced when they blow. As good as CFLs are, I don’t want to throw out something that is still useful just to replace them. We’ve got some CFLs stored in the laundry cupboard so that we’re ready with the type we like when the next bulb blows, instead of having to run to the deli for a quick replacement.
Your CFLs shouldn’t flicker - if they do, they’re either not properly screwed in, or it’s a faulty bulb, so there’s no need to put up with it. We quite like the Phillips and Mirabella brands and have found them pretty reliable. We always get the ones labelled “warm white” but some people prefer the “daylight” or “neutral” ones. I’ve never met anyone who likes the “cool white” ones, but I guess someone out there does because they keep making them!