One Small Light Bulb for Man

September 5, 2008

Two summers ago at this time I was faced with the heavy task of readying my parents' home in California for sale after the death of my father. It was a bittersweet period. After a valiant battle against Alzheimers, my Dad, the rocket engineer and space pioneer (and, as it turned out prescient green senior citizen) had succumbed to the devastation of dementia, and eventually a stroke. My daughters and sister helped me clear through what had become his increasingly cluttered home, exclaiming over trinkets and setting aside beloved mementoes to save.

As we delved deep into the back of the utility closet, we emerged with boxes and boxes of packaged light bulbs. These were no ordinary bulbs but rather those tightly twisted, curling tubes we now all call CFLS, or compact fluorescent light bulbs. He must have had 40 or 50 of them. At the time, CFLs were more than $3.00 a bulb -- quite an investment for a pensioner. My youngest daughter wanted us to pack them in our suitcases and take them back to Pennsylvania. Instead, I urged my California sister to take them home. She, unfortunately, declined, saying she detested the harsh white light. So, Mark, the handy-man who hauled away all the left-over junk came into a small fortune in CFLs.

By November of 2006, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was released in DVD and print, pushing the formerly esoteric scientific debate over global warming into the mainstream media and water cooler chit-chat. Walmart and Target began actively promoting and heavily subsidizing the sale of CFLs, which meant that within a year, the price had fallen by almost a third. Certainly at my house, we were trying them out, even in recessed can lights in the kitchen and in lamps throughout the house.

And why were we all going gung-ho over CFLs?

Well, it might have begun with the inefficiency of incandescent lighting as much as a desire to save the earth. Ninety percent of the energy of a 100 watt incandescent light bulb is converted to heat instead of light. In contrast, CFLs use 75% less energy than do incandescents and can be screwed into a regular socket. And, Energy Star qualified CFLs last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. They also produce about 75% less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

Also, the biggest issue for many consumers, Energy Star CFLs must pass extensive testing to ensure that they have a softer color similar to that of incandescent lights. The EPA estimates that if every American home replaced just one 100 watt incandescent with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year (approximately equal to more than $600 million in annual energy costs) and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

But what is the link between CFLs and CO2 emissions?

Coal. The United States relies primarily on carbon based fuels to produce electricity. In 2007, of the 4,159 billion kilowatt hours of electricity produced in this country, 72% was produced from fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas), and 67% of that amount was coal. Coal accounts for a little less than 50% of all electricity production in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. (Just to compare, France generates over 77% of its electricity from nuclear power...but that's another Friday Journal.) Unfortunately, when it is burned, coal produces more carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels. Thus, the link between CFLs and reducing CO2 emissions is that by using energy more efficiently to light your home, less electricity is used, less coal is burned, and less greenhouse gases are released.

Nonetheless, replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs -- even with the promise of future dollars saved and a decrease in CO2 -- turns out to be a tough sell for many consumers. (Witness my sister who still won't buy them). So the federal government has decided that lighting energy efficiency is a high priority. Buried deep within the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 enacted last December is a provision which describes new energy efficiency standards for general service incandescent lamps. By 2012 to 2014 (there's a phase in by wattage), the law will require that all light bulbs use 30% less energy than today's incandescent bulbs. By 2020, a Tier 2 would become effective which requires all bulbs to be at least 70% more efficient which is effectively equal to today's CFLs.

Essentially, 100 watt incandescent light bulbs that emit 1600 lumens or more will not meet the efficiency standard, and therefore will be outlawed by January 2012. CFLs, which use only 23-30 watts for 1600 lumens, will meet the standard. Below is a handy-dandy conversion chart.

While it is not technically correct to say CFLs will be required or incandescents will be phased out, consumers' options will soon change dramatically.

It's clear the government is on a mission not unlike putting a man on the moon. It's one small light bulb for man, but one giant leap for the carbon footprint. And to think my father, even in his faltering state, had the presence of mind to calculate his energy savings -- even if he did over-calculate his household need. I always knew he was brilliant.

If you'd like to calculate your annual energy savings and CO2 emissions savings, go to the calculator at

http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=602

--Judith Tschirgi, Senior Executive Fellow