Changing your lightbulbs to fluorescents DOES save energy...

[jayctravis]

There was a thread several months ago about doing this.

I spent about $75 to change all the lightbulbs in the house to the new screw-in fluorescent bulbs, and we've seen about a $12 monthly drop in our electricity bills.

The initial bulbs are more expensive, but most of them are rated to last five years. There is no change in the quality of the light - these have a warmer pink hue rather than the familiar greenish tone of industrial fluorescent tubes. The only difference is sometimes there's a half-second delay between when you hit the switch and when the bulb lights up.

If it's too expensive to change all at once, just get a couple and swap when your current ones burn out. It's a big difference between your 60 watt bulbs and a fluorescent with the same light output only using 12 watts.

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. I did this a few years ago, and they do save money

Sometimes you can find deals on these bulbs. I recently ordered 12 of them for $29.95 total from a closeout place called Heartland America. I would imagine they're sold out by now, but you might want to check them or search around the internet.

[evlbstrd]

2. I did the same thing.

Little things like that can make a big difference.
Now I'm prepping for winter by insulating all of the hot water pipes (I have hot water heat) and stuffing every air leak I can find.

[charlie]

3. You betcher bunnyboots

I've just relocated from Japan where everybody uses flourescents. One of the first things I did was replace all the bulbs in my rental. They work, they make a huge difference in energy consumption. ....aaand they output far less heat, lowering cooling bills in the summer.

[wellstone dem]

4. I've seen the same thing. nt

[Eloriel]

5. I have flourescent bulbs I've been using since mid-1999 still

working -- that definitely represents another avenue of savings. Plus, it's nice that you're not constantly buying/replacing those darned things.

[Delphinus]

6. I just did this too!

Haven't had them in long enough to tell a difference in price. But, I did get the ones that are supposed to be like daylight, or natural sunlight, and my goodness, I hadn't realized how dark the other bulbs were!! I can (almost) see! :)