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Making up for lost daylight

By Maria Stamas

Posted Fri Nov 7, 2008 11:10am PST

Related topics: How-To, Economics, Electricity, Lights, House, Saving energy at home

More from Environmental Lovins blog

The sun is setting earlier in the northern hemisphere and for most Americans, clocks rolled back on November 2, stealing another hour of natural light.

CFL against a green background (iStockPhoto)

Less time to both play outdoors and work window-side means more time for electric powered lights.

This is no small matter. A fourth of all electricity consumed in the United States goes toward lighting, and 20 percent of that is spent air conditioning waste heat from inefficient light bulbs. Plus, as my colleague Cher Seruto notes, the more artificial light used at night, the less stargazing for us all.

Lighting technologies have come a long way since the incandescent bulb, which wastes more than 90 percent of its energy as heat. Here are a few lighting tips to make the extra hour of dark in our evenings a moot point:

Smart Use First

Use lighting only when and where you need it. Lighting a whole room so you can see what you're doing is similar to refrigerating a whole house to preserve perishable food. Try using task lights instead. And if you can't remember to turn off lights, install occupancy sensors to do it for you when you enter or leave a room.

Efficient Lighting

Replace your halogen torchieres! Ever wonder why they create fire hazards? These lamps operate at 970 degrees Fahrenheit. Compact fluorescent (CFL) versions can save each year the carbon dioxide equivalent of driving a medium-sized car 743 miles. You'll also avoid $36 a year on your electricity bills. For cost-saving details see Rocky Mountain Institute's (RMI) Home Energy Brief #2 (PDF).

If you haven't switched out your incandescents for CFLs, don't wait another minute. CFLs save you money in two ways:

They last longer than incandescent bulbs (between 8500 hours and 11,250 hours depending on how well you use them), and
They use less electricity to provide the same amount of light -- only 25 percent as much.

Specifically, each CFL you install saves $50 in electricity costs over the lifetime of the bulb. If you replaced five 75-watt bulbs with CFLs, you could save more than $250 over eight years! See the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's chart for details.

You could accrue even more money by switching out incandescent fixtures for CFL fixtures. If all households in the United States replaced five 100-watt fixtures with 23-watt CFL fixtures, enough electricity would be saved to power three cities the size of New York day in and day out.

Want to do more? Try purchasing some cutting-edge light emitting diodes (LEDs). These lights last ten times longer than CFLs. Decorative LED lights -- like those used to drape across Christmas trees -- use less than a dollar of electricity to operate over the holiday season and large strings of light can save up to $75.

And when your lightbulbs do burn out, don't forget to recycle them. The Home Depot and IKEA collect CFLs. Check out the EPA or Earth911.org to find your nearest recycling location.

Adding Natural Light

Beyond electric lighting, plenty of opportunities exist to add more sunlight. Daylighting lowers electricity use and cooling loads, and enhances our visibility, health, and productivity. Try these simple fixes:

To reflect more light around your rooms, paint a wall white and switch out darker carpeting for lighter versions.

Install a solar tube to funnel light into spaces with few windows like dark hallways, bathrooms, and kitchens. These fixtures are the low-cost alternative to skylights and are available for under $400.

Mount a lightshelf. Lightshelves are flat surfaces attached to the exteriors of buildings that bounce natural light through windows and deep into the building while also reducing glare.

Designing from scratch or embarking on major retrofits? See how RMI architects have implemented their daylighting designs in homes, office complexes, and factories.

For more information check out RMI's Home Energy Brief #2 (PDF).

Maria Stamas is an analyst with Rocky Mountain Institute.

Related topics: How-To, Economics, Electricity, Lights, House, Saving energy at home

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Showing 1 - 15 of 54 comments

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Posted by Gordon R Sun Nov 9, 2008 8:18am PST
Over 30% of the C.F.s I bought burned out before 8 *months(pt.1 in article 'last 8 years'). They need to *last 3+ years to pay for increase in their cost vs. 'old' bulbs. They need special *disposal when done. I don't think they can be used outdoors(below freezing or where damp), rooms with high moisture(washrooms) or near heat(over stove), so won't replace 'all sources' as some manufacturers suggest.
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Posted by mixaleena Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:52am PST
We have them in our bathroom, and in our outdoor lights. We have had them for well over a year and they are still going. My in-laws have lasted for years as well to the best of my knowledge. Maybe you have got a bad brand?
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Posted by breeze400 Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:18am PST
I strongly recomend useing CFL's. I have been useing them for 8 years in my home and love them!
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Posted by mondo_sinistro Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:16am PST
Instead of CFLs, go for LED lights in any cases where you can possibly afford them. They're at least as efficient as CFLs, sometimes more, they last longer, don't have temperature problems, and have a higher quality of light. There's a lot more latitude in designing fixtures around them too, that are tailored to what they're used for. Buying them will accelerate their development, and make them cheaper for everyone sooner.
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Posted by lumberr64 Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:47pm PST
there are a multitude of bulbs available, but you do need to read what you install. some are designed for outdoors, high moisture, dimmable - some also indicate not for horizonal installation only verticle. this will cause the bulb to fail prematurely. and as stated in other responses - you may have a bad brand. most companies will warranty the bulb over the normal lifespan of the bulb. so buy the right bulb with the right warranty from a quality company and start saving money and save the environment for the rest of us.
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Posted by james t Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:58pm PST
dear mondo- obviously you've never done any research on led's. They are really expensive and have been taken off the market until the manufacturers can perfect them. We've been trying them at work with miserable results. Maybe in the future.
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Posted by Uncle Joe Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:11pm PST
My Sister & Brother-in-Law have solar tubes in their new house & I can't believe how much light they throw off. During the day in the hallway & bathroom, you never need to turn lights on. I was amazed at how bright they are. I'll be putting them in my house when I replace the roof in a year or so.
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Posted by Gary M Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:12pm PST
I recently tried a number of dimmable CFL's, the performance of some were terrible, and they were returned to the stores who did take them back. The Feit Electric bulbs that I found at Walgreen's would not only dimmed to the lowest level my dimmer would go to, but they'd turn on and off at that level. I believe the lumen range equal to that of incandescent bulbs at roughly a quarter of the energy use. I've been using CFL's and even the older circle lamps before them for roughly 20 years whereever I could. With the new dimmable lamps I doubt if anywhere I can use a standard bulb won't be a CFL shortly, but for me that's only a couple more lamps I can change. I agree that LED's and hopefully eventually CNT's are the future, but the price is still very high in most applications and while they do effectively last a lifetime, in most applications the price needs to come down. I especially like the potential of CNT's, carbon nanotubes, but they're years away, they not only are far more efficient then even LED's, but they can not only dim, they can change color, be used in flat panel displays, and be used in all sorts of other things, like the central processor of any computer. When CNT's can be mass produced cheaply they will replace nearly all the other technologies, but perhaps it's 5 to 15 years away.
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Posted by Gambinotoo Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:16pm PST
It could be a problem with your supply voltage, either too high or too low, I'm guessing too low, which will shorten the lifetime of cfl's. If you had a problem with incandescents before switching,(ie. short life-span) it could be a problem of too high voltage.
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Posted by Sofa King Sweet Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:30pm PST
I purchase the CFs and tape the recipt to the empty box or plastic bubble pack (Sams club). When a bulb burns out, Yes, in less than 5-8 years, I replace it with a new one and the old one is put back in the bubble pack and when that is full it goes right back for a return. It is usually stated somewhere on the back of the package to return to place of purchase if defective.I won't buy any that don't say it. Four times I have gotten a relacment, no problem, although last time the manager said I "must" have a voltage problem for them to only last a couple of years,to which I replied "Are you an electrician?" He just handed me my replacements and smiled......I think if they are going to advertise LASTS 5 to 8 years I'm going to hold them to it.Do it my way, it's Sofa King Sweet signing off, buh, bye.
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Posted by Suzie Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:33pm PST
Aren't they dangerous when they break? I think I read that somewhere. I believe it said to get out of the house for a certain amout of time, etc. etc. It sounded like a lot of touble and inconvience.
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Posted by DUANE K Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:40pm PST
I have found the CFLs do not omit as many lumens as does the incadescents. The only way is to upgrade the CFLs to the next wattage size to get the light as bright as I need. The cost factor goes away when I do that. I'm all for going green and saving money, but I do not think the CFLs is "trumped up" to what the experts are claiming.
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Posted by djahobb@att.net Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:42pm PST
I like the idea of CFL's except I have not been able to find any made in the United States, only China. Several that I have purchased have failed prematurely which causes an environmental problem for disposal.
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Posted by Suzanne Tue Nov 11, 2008 3:18pm PST
What is the point of using these bulbs to better the United States when they are made in China where there are no EPA standards what so ever. We may be saving a few pennies in electricity but the damage to the environment to make these thing is far more damaging!!!!
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Posted by tx_shopdaddy Tue Nov 11, 2008 3:19pm PST
CFL's are very BAD! They contain MERCURY which makes them a HAZARDOUS item and they must be handled with care. If you break one, the first thing you must do is ventilate the room and leave it to air out. THEN you have to treat the broken materials as hazardous waste!!! Come on! Do you really think that everybody is going to do this??? My bet is that "human nature" will see that over 80% of the burnt out CFL's go in the garbage where they will end up crushed in our landfills thus polluting our underground water supply. If anybody can prove me wrong, take your best shot but back it up with facts. My money is on LED's when they are perfected.
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