Cooperative Living August 2016 - 12

EnergyROI | by Tom Tate, Contributing Writer
Lighting options lead to energy savings
A
Luckily for consumers, whether they own or rent their homes, lighting is one of the easiest places to save.
ccording to the federal
government's Energy
Information Administration,
residential lighting accounts for 10
percent of all residential electrical use.
Luckily for consumers, whether they
own or rent their homes, lighting is
one of the easiest places to save
money (aside from adjusting
thermostats).
Because of the amount of energy
used, lighting has received a
significant amount of attention in
the last couple of decades or so.
As far back as the 1970s, work was
focused on developing and
deploying better, cheaper and
longer-lived lighting options for
all applications, inside and out.
By the mid-1980s, the push to
replace residential incandescent
bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL)
alternatives was picking up steam.
Personally, I found early CFL aesthetics
terrible. They did reduce energy use but
they looked ridiculous, their color
output would have been better used
on the set of a zombie movie, and the
cost was astronomical. Over the years
most of these issues were solved, and
today a CFL is the mainstay light
source for many.
The continued pressure for even more
savings has brought us the LED and
manufacturers learned well from their
CFL experience. Early on you could
get a replacement for an incandescent
bulb that looked a lot like it and offered
appealing light colors. Price remained
an issue though, just like the early
CFL products.
As LED prices drop, I recommend
that everyone head right for an LED
solution when the goal is to reduce the
cost of lighting your home. They are
still more expensive but have the
following in their favor:
10 | Cooperative Living | August 2016
* They significantly reduce energy
use, sometimes as much as 70 percent
or better.
* They have a remarkable life span -
up to 10 years, depending upon use.
* They like cold weather, so they don't
take forever to give off light when
temperatures are low.
* They do not suffer from the disposal
restrictions that CFLs have due to their
mercury content.
* They are great inside or out and
especially useful in applications where
replacement is a chore; say, second-story
outside floodlights or high hall
chandeliers.
Here is a personal example I'll share. My
basement has eight recessed light fixtures.
When we moved in, they were outfitted
with 90-watt incandescent lamps. I could
imagine the meter spinning off the house
like a Frisbee under the power demand
each time I turned them on, so I went to a
local big-box store for LED replacements.
At $12.95 each, I could buy a 12-watt LED
alternative in a warm white color, the light
type I prefer.
Based on my cost per kWh of $.13 and
factoring in replacement costs of the
shorter-lived incandescent lamps, I
calculated that I would pay for the LED
lamps in the first year. After that, it was
free and clear until they needed
replacement. Today, I can turn on eight
LED recessed can lights and use less
electricity than my 100-watt task light.
LEDs are definitely the way to go when
you want savings, long life and excellent
color rendition. Definitely a great return
on your investment! Just one favor to ask,
though. Use the LEDs just as if they were
energy hogs. Turn them off when you are
not in the room. This helps maintain the
reduction in energy use and that benefits
us all. 
Tom Tate writes on cooperative issues for the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
the Arlington, Virginia-based service arm of the
nation's 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit
electric cooperatives.
www.co-opliving.com

http://www.co-opliving.com

Cooperative Living August 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living August 2016