CFLs: Are They Really a Bright Idea?

In late 1879, Thomas Edison held the first public demonstration of his new invention, the light bulb. But would his invention last forever? I think we all know that forever is an awfully long time and with advancements in all fields of technology, even the light bulb would probably get a face lift at some time. If you didn't already know, which I am sure is highly unlikely, there is a Congressional mandate that will ban the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2014. This means that every American will have to swap this for that.


What does that mean for you and why am I writing about it in a Money Saving post? The other day while I was visiting one of my local superstores, I ran across a sale on compact fluorescent light bulbs, otherwise known as CFLs, that are supposed to save you a lot of money if you replace your old bulbs with these new ones.

Therefore, I thought I would see what it was all about. Will it really save money if you switch now since all of us in the U.S. are going to have to switch anyway, unless there is another mandate to trump the current one? There are really two schools of thought on this, of course as there always is, the bright side vs. the dark side.

The Bright Vote

Consumer Reports states that you can save $5 per year per bulb if you switch, assuming that you use each bulb an average of 3 hours each day. And, they remind us that back in 1999, these CFLs cost between $9 and $25, but only cost about $2-$3 today, so it is cheaper now to switch than when they first came out. Additionally, those Go Green types, which I admire and wish I was more like, state that lighting makes up 20% of an average electric bill. Further, they say that the CFLs will pay for themselves because each bulb saves over $30 for the lifetime of the bulb and they last 10 times longer and use 2/3 less energy than standard light bulbs. Another source reveals that if every home in the U.S. would swap out just one light bulb for a CFL, it would eliminate the emission of 90 million pounds of greenhouse gases which equates to taking 7.5 million cars off our highways and preserve the amount of energy to light 2.5 to 3 million homes over 1 year, equating to more than $600 million in annual energy costs. One final source states that using CFLs could save about 500 pounds of coal energy and 1300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. These are all very impressive statistics and make me consider rushing out to buy new light bulbs for every socket in my house. You can even calculate your savings with this calculator if you wish. But, before I recommend doing that, let's take a look at the dark side.

The Dark Vote

I'm not sure you need to do anything but watch this short video to find out people's thoughts of the dark side of CFLs.



Again, most of what was said in the video is confirmed by several sources concerned about safety, health risks, and mercury hazards. There is concern for small children and pregnant women when using CFLs in case of breakage, but then again, there is concern regarding pretty much everything for small children and pregnant women, so to me, this is just another in a long list. Finally, there are companies working on alternative versions of the light bulb that will eliminate the mercury hazard, so who knows what the future holds.

What to do?

Typically, I leave you with a recommendation on saving money in my posts, but dare I stray from the norm when it comes to light bulbs? I wouldn't do that to you. I think that for me, the savings I could see short term while heeding all warnings associated with CFLs are worth the switch. I may have to do it sooner than later anyway due to Congressional decisions, so why not? It's like anything else in my life. I probably should already be dead based on the number of sodas, both diet and regular, I have drank and the number of eggs I have consumed in my lifetime, the number of hours I have spent in front of a computer screen, and the number of minutes I have used on multiple cell phones while pumping very expensive gas. So, what's a little mercury going to do to me?

Sources: Consumer Reports, Natural News 1, Natural New 2, It's The Planet! Diodiot, Energy Star 1, Energy Star 2, Get Energy Smart, USA Today 12/16/07, and USA Today 4/21/08.