subject: Energy Saving Light Bulbs [print this page] Despite the fact that energy efficient light bulbs have been on the market for decades, it was not until recently that they caught the imagination of the general public. Due to a combination of an increased concern over global warming trends and other environmental concerns with rising energy costs and a stagnant economy, more people than ever are making the permanent switch to energy efficient light bulbs. Let us take a detailed, insider look at how these energy efficient light bulbs work and why these remarkable bulbs have how caught on with the masses.
The Basics on Traditional Light Bulbs
Given the mundane nature of the common household light bulb, most of us do not give these consumer products much thought, but it turns out that there are a whole host of reasons why we should. Most people are a little bit surprised to learn that the science and design between the traditional light bulbs that are still present in many homes has not changed in nearly 150 years. Known as incandescent light bulbs, these devices are remarkably primitive when you compare them to the technology that informs the design of practically every other electronically powered product. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about energy efficient light bulbs is that they have taken so long to appear on the market in full force.
The way that an incandescent light bulb works is so simple that it was one of the first commercial applications invented following the discovery of electricity. In a nut shell, electricity is conducted to the bulb, where it is fed to a very narrow filament made out of a metal known as tungsten. Tungsten has two properties that are very important to understanding what an incandescent light bulb is and why they are so inefficient. For one, tungsten generates a great deal of light when it is conducting electricity across the filament from one wire to the next. Secondly, the reason that tungsten gives off so much electricity is that the material is heated up to an extraordinarily hot temperature in the process of conducting the electricity. As a result, a full 90% of the energy that is used by a light bulb is wasted in the form of radiated heat.
The Basics on Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
Low energy light bulbs are based on a form of technology that is completely different from incandescent light bulbs. These relatively new household products can be installed in the same light fixtures, but the similarities end there. Dubbed compact fluorescent light bulbs, they operate in much the same way as the fluorescent lighting that has been used in business offices and retail outlets for decades except that compact fluorescent light bulbs condense their power in the form of a coiled tube of glass. These tubes are filled with a gas containing mercury vapor and other materials that produces ultraviolet light when a light electrical current is added to the glass chamber. This light is invisible to the naked eye and would be useless to humans if the light bulbs were made of transparent glass. Instead, the light is filtered through white glass, which filters the UV light into light is visible to humans.
Because comparatively little energy is wasted in the form of heat radiation by compact fluorescent light bulbs, the power necessary to run these light bulbs is much lower than that of an incandescent light bulb. For example, the electricity needed to generate 450 lumens, (common measurement for luminescence) is 40 Watts for incandescent light bulbs, while the same results came be achieved through compact fluorescent light bulbs through the use of 9 to 13 Watts depending on the model of light bulb used. As you might imagine, the impact of this improvement in savings on energy costs and environmental footprint is substantial.
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs Make It Big
While compact fluorescent light bulbs had been on the market for quite some time, it took considerable economic and political pressure for individuals to realize the benefits that this technology offered the average consumer. As is the case with most things of this nature, the reason that it took so long was not because of the hard headed nature of the public. Instead, the average consumer did not have the proper information regarding compact fluorescent light bulbs until economic and political forces found motivated people to start finding ways to cut down on their carbon imprint and lower their energy consumption. This was accomplished by two major social changes that got the public to change the way that they thought about energy consumption: the reality of global warming and the international recession.
Leaving politics aside for a moment, scientists have reached a consensus that global warming is very real and that these changes have a direct causal relationship with carbon emissions created by our society. While it appears that it will take time for the governments of the world to enact policy changes that may stem the tide of global warming, a growing segment of the population is willing to take responsibility for their role in climate change by making small changes in their own lives to lower their ecological footprint. As a result, more people than ever are now willing to pay attention to the staggering figures concerning the savings in energy and carbon emissions that energy efficient technology represents.
No matter how noble our intentions may be however, most of us our more motivated by more immediate concerns than the ecological environment, and it was not until the majority of consumers were impacted by the recent economic recession that consumers and business owners began looking to green technology that could help them improve their bottom line that these bulbs started generating some buzz. With an estimated energy cost savings of between $30 and $40 dollars over the lifetime of the bulb for every light fixture that adopts compact fluorescent lights bulbs, it is hard for anyone with any appreciation for the value of money to resist making the conversion to this example of energy efficient technology.
As political organizations, environmental agencies and the general public have become increasingly conscious of issues concerning the environment, it now appears that the victory of the compact fluorescent light bulb over the incandescent light bulb is inevitable. A growing number of vocal citizens groups have begun petitioning their local governments and congressional representatives with calls for the introduction of legislation of an outright ban on incandescent light bulbs from the market due to the incredible volume of unnecessary waste in energy that it is costing our society, as well as our planet. Whether individuals convert to compact fluorescent light bulbs on their own volition or the state and federal governments pass mandates requiring the removal of incandescent light bulbs, it appears that this technology represents the future of lighting technology.
In closing, there are three main points to remember when it comes to thinking about energy efficient light bulbs.
1. The technology behind incandescent light bulbs is inefficient and obsolete.
2. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are cost effective and have a small carbon footprint.
3. There is no longer any denying the plain fact that green technology like compact fluorescent light bulbs is here to stay.
