Save Money With Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
With soaring world gas prices, consumers are having the headache of their lives. The same amount of money which used to fill a tank of gas can now only buy lesser fuel. Aside from that, the fuel prices also affect those countries which depend on fossil fuels for their power plants. Because of that, the cost of electricity also rises.
We are finding ourselves in the same situation like what happened in the 1970s when the price of fuel also shot up. That is why the use of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) is once again becoming more and more significant.
CFLs were invented by Ed Hammer of General Electric in response to the oil crisis in the 1970s. Right now, CFL bulbs are gaining popularity in reducing electric costs.Compared to incandescent bulbs, the CFL has a longer life and consumes less electricity. A typical CFL lasts 15,000 hours compared to the incandescent which only lasts 1,000 hours. Such a big difference can also significantly cut costs in buying new bulbs.
Then there’s the factor of energy consumption. To illustrate their diffrence, an incandescent bulb consumes 15W and the CFL of the same luminosity consumes only 5. The difference in consumption only gets bigger as the luminosity increases. At the most, a CFL consumes 30W compared to the 200W of the incandescent with the same luminosity.
However, CFLs still struggle to grab a large piece of the market. The main reason for this is its price. CFLs cost significantly higher than incandescent bulbs and even fluorescent ones. But this is of course offset by the fact that it saves energy (as much as $30 in savings to US consumers) and has a long lifespan.
Another issue with CFLs is its disposal. A CFL bulb contains mercury which is hazardous to the environment and to people. It should therefore be disposed of carefully. People are therefore advised to return them to stores where they bought the bulbs or send them to recycling plants where they could be safely disposed.
