THOMPSON SUSTAINABLE HOMES CONTINUES TO PROVE THAT REAPING THE BENEFITS OF ELITE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFOMANCE DOES NOT MEAN COMPROMISING YOUR DESIGN VISION

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's)

If you know only a little about CFL's, you've probably heard that they save a little energy but they contain a lot of toxic mercury.  But the truth is, they save a whopping amount of energy, and the mercury scare is greatly exaggerated.  On this page I'll give you the lowdown on CFL's in great detail.

I first recommended CFL's on this site way back in the 1990's, when they were rare.  It was kind of neat back then to let people in on a big secret.  It's not such a secret any more, but I'm glad people are saving energy with CFL's.

To understand why CFL's are a big deal, we first need to see why regular lightbulbs are so lame.  Environmental Defense has the best explanation of what's wrong with regular light bulbs:

"Though we call them light bulbs, traditional incandescent bulbs are actually small heaters that give off a little bit of light--something you know if you've ever touched a bulb that's been on for a while.  These bulbs were technological wonders when they were patented in 1880, but today they are inefficient dinosaurs.  They waste energy and money, and they are responsible for millions of tons of global warming pollution."

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's) are one solution -- they use about 75% less electricity and give off only a little bit of heat.

Here's are the benefits of CFL's:

• Use 75% less energy than regular light bulbs.
• Last about 10 times as long as regular light bulbs.
• Produce similar quality light as regular light bulbs (nothing like old-style fluorescents).
• Cost as little as $1.50.
• Don't generate ridiculous amounts of heat (which you would have to pay to remove with AC).

And here are the downsides:

• Most of them can't be used with dimmer switches. (Some can; check the package.)
• Cheap ones burn out really quickly. Buy Energy Star-rated bulbs, or bulbs with a warranty.
• They start dim and take a minute or two to reach full brightness.
• They contain a tiny amount of mercury, which might be an issue if you break a bulb and you're careless about how you clean it up.  (More on this in a minute.)
• If you use an illuminated wall switch to control them, they might burn out faster.
• They produce a higher electromagnetic field than regular bulbs, and there is controversy about whether this has health effects.  (More on this in a minute, too.)

Old-style bulbs are such big energy-wasters that many governments are banning them.  That includes the U.S. and Australia.  They're doing this to save energy, because saving energy reduces pollution.  (Power plants put out tons of carbon, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and more.)

And that's just the electricity savings.  Since a good CFL lasts 10 times longer than an old-style bulb, that's a lot fewer bulbs to buy.  This is especially important for large commercial applications, where the cost of labor to constantly replace old-style bulbs can be significant.

You'll save even more in summer months, because CFL's run cooler than old-style bulbs, so you'll spend less money to cool your home or office.  This is balanced by the fact that you'll see little savings during the winter, because your savings on lighting will be negated by higher heating bills.  (Your old incandescent lights were helping to heat your home.)  It's unlikely you'll pay more overall in the winter by using CFL's, it's just that you likely won't see much overall savings during winter, either. 

So in summary: