At last there`s a green light in the mass market.
Sears, Roebuck & Co. is starting to stock compact fluorescent light bulbs in its stores nationwide. And the manufacturer, Philips Lighting Co., is working to introduce them in home centers, discount stores and other retail outlets, according to products manager Carol O`Neil.
She says Philips invented the nifty device, which fits into ordinary light fixtures and delivers the same amount of light for about one-fourth the energy of incandescents.
And while the price-tag may make you flinch at first-they cost up to $30 a bulb-compact fluorescents actually save you money because they last 9 to 13 times as long. Just one, over its lifetime, can save up to $30 on your electricity bill. Full-scale use nationwide would save Americans $5 billion to $8 billion a year, according to a recent Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories report.
Seventh Generation catalog estimates the lifetime cost of a 15-watt compact fluorescent, which provides the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent, at $28 to $17 for the bulb and $11 for the electricity to light it for 9,000 hours. The cost of the nine incandescents it would take to provide the same 9,000 hours of the same amount of light would amount to about $50 ($6.75 for the bulbs and $43 for the electricity). Thus, the compact fluorescent turns out to be cheaper by $22.
”You need to think of it as you think of buying an appliance,” says Joel Makower, editor of the Green Consumer Letter. ”The purchase price is only about one-tenth the cost of using it over its lifetime.”
And the bulbs do more than conserve energy and save money; they reduce pollution. The Safe Energy Communication Council estimates that over its lifetime, one compact fluorescent bulb lit by a coal-fired power plant will prevent generation of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the chief culprit in global warming.
O`Neil says compact fluorescents have been used commercially since about 1984. But the 1990 wave of consumer interest in the environment sparked new demand for them. ”We`ve decided there`s a strong home market for them,” she said, ”and we`re beginning to respond to that with new marketing approaches.”
Until now, they`ve mostly been available through specialty catalogs such as Seventh Generation and Real Goods. Sears is the first retailer to mass market the devices. The stores will offer the SL-18, an 18-watter that provides as much light as a 75-watt incandescent.
But compact fluorescents are available in a wide range of sizes through catalogs. Seventh Generation even provides a chart with measurements and graphics to help the buyer determine the appropriate type and style fixture.
Compact fluorescents fit into incandescent sockets, but the globes may be larger and not fit in some fixtures. In some cases an adapter ”harp” can overcome that. Compact fluorescent cannot, however, be used with dimmer switches; the technologies are not compatible.
But O`Neil says researchers are looking for ways to make the bulbs completely interchangeable with incandescents.
Seventh Generation offers these other suggestions for getting the most light for your energy.
– Maximize use of available light: Open draperies, paint your walls light colors.
– Use other energy-efficient lighting such as halogen.
– Clean incandescent bulbs regularly to maximize output.
– Avoid long-life incandescents. They tend to be even less energy-efficient than regular ones.
– And don`t forget that as demand goes up, the price of compact fluorescents will go down. That`s simple economics.
———-
Two sources for the full range of compact fluorescent and accessories are: Seventh Generation, Colchester, Vt. 05446-1672 (call 800-456-1177 for a free catalog); Real Goods Trading Co., 966 Mazzonie St., Ukiah, Calif. 95482. (call 800-762-7325 for a free catalog).
