http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs Comments on 'replace all the light bulbs in my house with low energy / long life bulbs' en-gb team@pledgebank.com 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 2 hourly http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_548043 I am afraid that the complexity of a low energy bulb means that the pollution that I avoid by not purchasing several incandescants over the life of the LE bulb, and of the reduced power that I require, may well result in the Chinese producing ever more CO2. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_6966 In our area of California, USA, compact fluorescents go to the same hazardous waste collection site as the older, long style fluorescents. We're not supposed to put them in with the ordinary trash. Presumably, they are dealt with in a responsible manner, along with other waste such as NiCd batteries, lead, paints, poisons, etc. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_837 Andy, good idea, I recommend this as part of my audit business to all clients be they residential or commercial, can also advise on green suppliers if required however most electric and gas suppliers have to have at least 10% green energy by law. Happy to donate 50% of fee towards planting more trees (see other pledge) if anyone wants me to look at bills. £10 for residential audit! My house is full of them...Chris jcm3777@hotmail.com if http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_714 Like Michael G. R., my husband and I have been using compact flourescents for several years. In our old house, we had to change out some inconsequential hardware (new globes for the ceiling fans, mostly), but it was no big hardship. In the rental we're in now (we moved out of state), the fixtures are ancient (and of course the landlady won't upgrade) so we're forced to use some incandescents. Can't wait til the house is built so I can put ALL my old/new compact flou's into use! http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_594 It seems the US has a lot more options in terms of waste management, but I thought I'd draw ppls attention to this page if worried about Hg leachate contamination. http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/Wasteguide/mn_wastetypes_lighting.html http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_507 Here's a site that sells 6 x 11w low-energy bulbs for £24.99. This is for a design that comes in two parts, so that when the bulb blows you just buy a new bulb part - the fitting can be reused - making it even more eco-friendly - and more cost-effective (assuming they work!) http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/Compact_Flourescent.html http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_464 I've been using compact-fluo bulbs for a few years and think they are great! I think we have 21 of them in the house right now, but I'll try to get a few more in so that the conversion is complete. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_424 I would love to get green electric, but alas, another of the things my landlady forbids is changing electricity provider, even in the interests of finding a green one. The info on your site's very interesting, Will. I'm just noticing that I need (a) a smaller PC and/or (b) to be less of a nethead. Power management, however, will be added. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_417 Catherine - you're never better off sticking to traditional bulbs! Even though you are buying renewable energy, it would be better not to use that energy at all. Renewable energy is not completely free of environmental damage - wind turbines / hydroelectric dams / power lines still need to be built. The less of all of these, the better - they still use energy to build. As an aside, I strongly encourage anybody who needs to leave their computer on for any period of time to turn on 'power management' in their power options. Modern PCs can be slowed down when they're not heavily used - they therefore use less power until you need it. Alternatively, use a 'small form factor' (physically small) PC or a laptop, which both use much less power than a desktop. For more information on power consumption, see my own house survey: http://www.willsmith.org/climatechange/domestic.html http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_390 Well I've already done this pledge as all our bulbs are energy saving. At my parents in Scotland the supplier is hydroelectric too. In fact, their energy saving bulbs were given them for free by the government? Perhaps more info here: http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/ Considering B is responsible for the environment and water for a county in FL, I should ask her about disposal of fluorescent bulbs. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_368 Catherine, indeed interesting questions. a) I believe some green energy companies transfer their "coupons" for renewable energy to other energy providers so that the other providers can burn more coal etc. (can't recall the specifics) This would mean the only truly green energy was from companies that don't do this. I have been considering switching my supply tho. Some renewables also cause extensive envornmental damage...hydro plants release methane into the air from rotting vegatable matter - which is a nasty greenhouse gas, wind farms disrupt local wildlife, we don't have enough sunlight for effective solar plants. I guess it's all about balance. Perhaps nuclear which has been making a lot of progress in new reactor designs that are far safer and cleaner than older ones is the way forwards. b) It would depend on the exact figures of pollutants and where they come from. Finding a safe and effective way of disposing of used low energy bulbs in the UK would make this a mute point - anyone know how / where you should dispose of them? http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_366 Hiya Bro, interesting pledge. I am already slowly replacing my bulbs and the most comonly used rooms already have low energy ones. I am not planning to be wasteful and throw away the spare non-low-energy ones I already have - though any new bulbs I buy will be low energy. Does that count? :-p http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_363 Hello wild pledgers! I've replaced all the conventional light bulbs in my home for quite a while now! Why wait for a pledge to do it? http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_355 Thanks to Craig & Will for the info. Andy B, that's a very interesting article, but with some confusing implications: (a) If you have a provider of 'green' electricity, does it mean you're better sticking with conventional light bulbs? (and how green is green electricity anyway?) (b) If 1/4 or less of your electricity comes from power stations run on fossil fuels, does it mean you're better sticking with conventional light bulbs? http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_351 By the way Catherine, regarding your question above, energy efficient strips (like in a kitchen) consume around 40W, at least mine does. Considering how bright a kitchen usually is, that's efficient (alternative would be say 200W of bad-old-bulbs). http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_349 Whoops! I just created an identical pledge (http://www.pledge.com/lightbulb/) before reading yours. Oh well. Good luck. I found an online shop selling really cheap bulbs, about £2.50 each: http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/specialoffers.asp I bought one about 6 months ago for something like £6 :( http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_325 Thanks for the info Jamie. I looked into this after reading your comment...from the article (full reference below): Ironically, compact fluorescent bulbs are responsible for less mercury contamination than the incandescent bulbs they replaced, even though incandescents don't contain any mercury. The highest source of mercury in America’s air and water results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, at utilities that supply electricity. Since a compact fluorescent bulb uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts at least six times longer, it is responsible for far less mercury pollution in the long run. A coal-burning power plant will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a compact fluorescent. REFERENCE: This is taken from the second article on this page which also contains some advice on disposal: http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/bldearearthtalk11-14-04.htm Glad to see some more peopel signed up - keep on letting people know and let's see if we can't get way more than 20! B & Q (http://www.diy.com) have quite a big selection of bulbs including some that look like conventional pearl ligh bulbs - altho a little bigger. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_282 I have been buying low energy bulbs from IKEA. I can't remember how much they cost, but very little - maybe a pound or two each. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_268 Catherine, I'd say fluorescent strip lights count for this pledge, after all, the energy saving/long life bulbs work by the same priciple, some of them even look like fluorescent tubes folded up :-) Thanks for the link, Looks like it's got the 40W-equivalent candle bulb I've been looking for for ages. Just need a cooker light now. http://www.pledgebank.com/green-lightbulbs#comment_265 How do fluorescent strip lights rank in terms of relative greenness? Is there a green alternative to same, or are they OK? The rest of my abode is fair game, but I'm not risking my landlady's ire by rewiring my kitchen. Incidentally, for anyone else who has a problem with bulbs with narrow screw-in fittings, greenshop.co.uk has energy-saving versions.