Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

Lower your energy bills with lower power usage and less heat emission

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs are the perfect energy saver for the desert. Along with using less power than incandescent bulbs, they also do not give off the same heat that incandescent bulbs do. The main reason for this is incandescent bulbs waste over 50% of their power usage in heat. So what does this mean to you? Well in the summer time you will not be adding to the heat by lighting your rooms.

Major Advantages of Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

  • CFBs use 75 percent less energy to produce the same amount of light. An 18-watt CFB can replace a 100-watt incandescent.
  • They last ten times longer. The life of a CFB is up to 10,000 per bulb, compared to less than 1,000 hours for an incandescent.

The first thing people say is, "But they are so expensive compared to regular bulbs". Yes the initial cost is higher, but this can be recouped in less than 2 years in energy savings and they'll last another 2 years after that. I have CFBs that are over 5 years old.

The price of Compact Fluorescent Bulbs has dropped dramatically since the first time I bought them over 6 years ago. Now if you shop around you can get them pretty cheap. My wife bought me a package of 10 60W equivelant (15W consumption) "Mini Twisters" at Sam's Club for $12.99. That's $1.30 per bulb. I have replaced all the expensive flood light bulbs in all of my canned light fixtures in my house. That alone has saved me a bundle. I have 6 in the kitchen and 2 in a hallway. What kind of savings is that?

Incandescent Flood Bulbs - 6 x 80W = 480 W consuption
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs - 6 x 22W = 132 W consumption

Along with using less power the 22W CFBs have the output of a 100W incandescent bulb, so I have also increased the light available in my home by that of a 120W bulb (100W - 80W = 20W x 6 = 120W of more light).

The only complaint I have ever heard from people is, "You can't use a dimmer". Well yes you can not use dimmers with CFBs, but if that is the only draw back, it is not enough to keep me away from saving money on my energy bills.

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