Learn to love your CFLs
by MELISSA BREYER
I was in a beautiful 19th-century building when I spotted a glaring compact fluorescent light bulb spiralling from the base of an antique sconce. This is great, I thought, countered immediately by: Eeew, that looks awful. Every list of tips to save the planet pleads with us to switch our light bulbs—but nobody tells us how to do that without sacrificing warmth and ambience. It’s time for some practical tips about how to use CFLs for the best lighting.
Simple Solution
OK, OK, we know. According to Natural Resources Canada, if every Canadian switched just one bulb in their home to a CFL, we would collectively save over $73 million in energy costs that year. We would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 367,000 tonnes—the equivalent of taking more than 66,000 cars off the road. We know. So we dutifully buy an armful of CFLs, replace all our old bulbs, shudder at the soul-baring glare, remove CFLs, reinstate incandescents, and banish the CFLs to a drawer.
The problem is that, without a little know-how, CFLs are not a very elegant replacement for our old light bulbs. The first thing to know is that there are two families of energy-saving light bulbs: light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and CFLs.
Light-Emitting Diodes (LED)
LED bulbs last a whopping 10 times longer than CFLs, and more than 100 times longer than incandescents. This writer has a few and can’t recommend them enough—but since CFLs are more readily available (and affordable), that’s the bulb we’ll tackle today.
TIP: For more information and to order LED bulbs, go to ccrane.com.
Why Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs?
In an effort to hold your attention, we’ll skip the science lesson here. We will say that incandescent bulbs are highly inefficient since the light they generate is really just a by-product of heat generation. Incandescent bulbs lose 90 per cent of the electricity consumed as heat and only last 750 to 1,000 hours, whereas CFLs use 75 per cent less energy for the same amount of light (producing no heat) and last 10,000 hours. For the homeowner this means a savings of $30 or more over each bulb’s lifetime, not to mention the significant decrease in pollution.
Shining the Light on Brightness
Most people inadvertently buy CFLs that are way too bright. Light is measured in lumens, but we have come to quantify brightness by watts, which is actually the amount of power a bulb uses. Since 90 per cent of the watts used to light an incandescent bulb go to producing heat, these bulbs require a lot of watts to create their light output (lumens). A CFL requires far fewer watts to create the same amount of lumens. So if you buy a 60-watt CFL, it is the equivalent of a 150-watt incandescent bulb!
TIP: To find the equivalent brightness, the rule of thumb is CFLs use about a quarter of the wattage to produce the same light.
Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT)
The colour of light is important in creating ambience if you don’t want your dining room table lit like a parking lot. The colour of light in a bulb is measured by its correlated colour temperature (CCT), which is a measure of how warm or cool light is, and designated by Kelvin (the scientific measure of temperature). Most CFLs come in 2,700K, 3,000K, 3,500K and 4,100K—which range from warm white to a bluish white. Too high a CCT (above 3500K) and your light will look blue and feel cold (even if labelled as “natural” or “daylight”).
TIP: Try a CCT range between 2,700K and 3,000K; these may be labelled as “warm white” or “soft white.”
Colour Rendering Index (CRI)
Have you ever bought a shirt in a store only to take it outside and discover the colour looks different? Different types of lighting render colour differently, and this has been codified into a numeric representation known as colour rendering index (CRI). The CRI rates a light bulb’s ability to show colours “realistically” as compared to a standard incandescent. The CRI scale ranges from 0 to 100—the higher the number, the closer the CFL will render colour like an incandescent bulb.
TIP: Look for CFLs with a colour-rendering index of 80 or above.
My Friend the Dimmer Switch
Dimming is a quick road to ambience, but only recently have some CFLs been designed to work with dimmer switches. These do not have the same dimming precision of incandescent bulbs, with a range of only 20 to 80 per cent of the brightness, but hey, that’s good enough for me!
TIP: Use the chart on the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund’s website, edf.org (search “dimmable”), for information on what kind of bulb to use with your dimmer switch.
The Right Bulb for the Job
CFLs were once available only in the spiral shape, but the industry has responded to the needs of those who require some grace with their greening. One can get a traditional bulb shape, a globe, and even a candelabra-shaped CFL now. CFLs also fall into three categories: bare (like the spiral), covered (like a traditional-looking bulb), and reflective (like flood lights).
TIP: Use the Energy Star chart at energystar.gov (click “Lighting”>“CFLs”) to choose the right bulb for the job.
Mercury
Alas, CFLs contain mercury. The good news is that the new generation of CFLs possesses only a trace amount of mercury (4 mg), far less than in thermometers (500 mg) or old thermostats (3,000 mg). In terms of environmental mathematics, a power plant actually emits 10 mg of mercury to fuel the power needs of an incandescent light bulb compared to 2.4 mg required to produce the electricity to power a CFL. While the amount of mercury is minimal, you should take precaution in cleaning up a broken CFL.1
TIP: How to clean up a broken CFL• Using gloves, carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard, place them in a sealed plastic bag, and wipe the area with a damp cloth. DO NOT USE A VACUUM! Doing so will spread mercury-containing dust throughout the area and can potentially contaminate the vacuum.
• Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag.
• Take it to a recycling centre.
How to Recycle CFLs
It’s important to note that as of yet there is no legislation prohibiting B.C. homeowners from chucking their CFLs into the garbage, but recycling is really the best option.
TIP: Many hardware stores, including Canadian Tire, Rona, Home Depot, and Kerrisdale Lumber provide recycling services for CFLs.
Melissa Breyer is a care2.com senior producer who has learned to coax oodles of ambience from her low-energy light bulbs. Reprinted with permission from care2.com.
1 While the safety of mercury levels in CFLs is being debated, it is important to note that mercury poisoning can lead to severe health problems, particularly for infants and small children. Low-mercury CFLs, identifiable by their green stems and marketed as “environmental” CFLs, are now available.
