Energy Saving Light Bulbs

Let's cut right to the point: there are a lot of light bulbs in the world and replacing them all with energy-efficient light bulbs would make a huge difference. It's no longer an issue about whether you can afford to go green or not - switching to energy efficient bulbs is both greener and cheaper.

There are two major technologies when it comes to energy efficient lighting: compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Here are some of the advantages of each, to help you pick which kind you need. The data is a composite of numerous sources and lifespans are relative to incandescent bulbs.

Advantages of CF Lighting

• very long life (up to 10x longer)
• saves energy
• cheaper (estimated $30-$45 cheaper across the life of the bulb)

Advantages of LED Lighting

• extremely long life (100x+ longer)
• saves energy
• durable, LEDs can be handled quite roughly without breaking
• low operating temperatures

There are a some disadvantages and limitations to each type of lightning, but every lighting scenario currently fulfilled by incandescent lighting can be fulfilled by either LEDs or CFLs. The following lists show some of the uses of LEDs and CFLs relative to their specialized strengths.

LED Applications

• spot lighting
• lighting areas for short spans of time (e.g. closets)
• portable/hand-held lights (anything that uses a battery)
• digital displays
• lighting areas which need to use very little power

CFL Applications

• sustained lighting of living spaces (biggest improvement)
• out door lighting (if shielded)
• replacing bulbs in lamps

Typically you'll find compact fluorescent lights to be far cheaper than LEDs, but recently LED prices have been dropping. If you do end up looking for CFL lights in the United States, look for ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs. More information about these here courtesy of Uncle Sam: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls