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Change a Few Bulbs Featured on Oct 15, 2007
Challenge
Replace just 3 of the regular light bulbs in your home with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs.
Individual Result
You will reduce your CO2 emissions by 2.1 lbs each day for an annual impact of 766 lbs.
Rally Impact
2731 people have reduced CO2 emissions by 377.48 tons by completing this challenge so far. That's equal to turning off the electricity of 234 homes for about 1 month!
Challenge Details
How many Rallyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? We don’t have the answer, but we’re working on it. Take Ben here at Rally Control. Not only did he change all of the light bulbs in his house and his girlfriend’s apartment over to compact fluorescent bulbs, but he got so good at rotating his hand in a repetitive motion that he got a second job squeezing orange juice at the local diner.
The Carbon Connection
A great way for all of us to start cutting back on our carbon impact is to use less electricity. About 72% of all electricity produced and used in the United States is generated by power plants using fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). If we all use less electricity, that means the power plants don’t need to produce as much electricity. Less electricity means less burning of fossil fuels. And that means less CO2 released into Earth’s atmosphere.
Almost 10% of the electricity used in our homes is being used for lighting. Think about it. You probably have several lights in every room. Keeping them turned off when not in use is the best way to reduce. But, for those lights you use all the time, switching from your normal incandescent light bulbs to modern Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (also called CFLs) can decrease your electricity use for lighting by up to 75%. On average, each light bulb changed over to a CFL means 260 less pounds of CO2 released into Earth’s atmosphere each year.
Getting It Done
You can find CFLs at most hardware or building supply stores. Don’t be put off by the sticker price. Yes, CFLs cost more than standard light bulbs. But you’ve got to look at the long haul. On average, that CFL is going to last 10 times longer than your old incandescent bulb. And the CFL is going to use 50 to 75% less energy. You’re actually going to save about $30 in decreased energy use over the life of the CFL. That should more than make up for the upfront cost. (And remember how much less carbon dioxide you’ll be responsible for!)
CFLs come in all shapes, sizes, and wattages. If you’re currently using a 60-watt incandescent bulb, look for a CFL that has the light output equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb. And if you’ve been avoiding CFLs because you think their light is just “too white,” look for “warm white” CFLs. If you need whiter, cooler light, then look for “cool white” bulbs.
Rules of the Challenge
And remember that this Challenge is to change only 3 of your incandescent light bulbs to CFLs. When you accept the Challenge, you and your team will be credited 2.1 pounds of CO2 savings every day for the next 5 years (the average life of your new CFL bulbs). It’s a good start. But if you live in a house, you may have 30 or more light bulbs. Lucky for you, this is a repeatable Challenge. Come back later, take this Challenge again, and change another 3 bulbs! It all adds up, Rallyers!
Learn More
Energy Star, Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Factsheet
Energy Efficient Lighting
See the Math
Let’s start with the known or estimated numbers:
- Changing an average 60-watt incandescent light bulb to a 13-watt CFL reduces CO2 emissions an average of 260 pounds per light bulb per year.
- The Challenge is to change 3 average incandescent light bulbs to CFLs.
- There are 365 days in a year. More or less.
Now put all that together to get the following equation:
Your numbers may vary. Perhaps you’re replacing 100-watt incandescent bulbs instead of 60-watt bulbs. If so, you’ll be releasing 40% less CO2 than we’ve shown in the Challenge. Just remember to use only as many lights and with as much wattage as you need.
Discuss Change a Few Bulbs :
Dude it really does! I love you man.
wow this really works i’m gonna do this all the time!
I accepted this challenge 7 times because I have changed atleast 22 bulbs and the challenge is for only 3. I have been using them for years and it shows in my electric bill, or should I say it doesn’t show on electric bill any more.
Been a CFL user for sometime now. Just remember to take them to somewhere that recycles them, so we don’t deposit mercury into the soil.
my family and i absolutly love these light bulbs our electricty bill went dow and we only changed the ones on the 2nd story thats 14 lights that a good start ill say. i <3 this challenge
I changed all of the bulbs at home, including exteriors, about a month ago. It’s great you’re not only helping Earth, but your wallet also!!!! My bill came down almost to half of I was used to paying, and I’m on a bi-monthly basis, so I expect to save evenmore on my next bill :D
i changed almost all bulbs except those in my bathroom 2 years ago. That is excellent.
We changed the lights in our ceiling fan to CFL’s. There are only 1 or two that we have left to change. I even got my mom to change all her bulbs to CFL’s.
We have about 70% of our light bulbs are CFLs for the last three years-The only ones which are not are ones that have clear glass around them and can be seen.
I changed 3 last weeks and several before that.
I changed a bunch last week and am finishing up this week!
I was glad to see this on here because I just went through and changed most of our bulbs last week
I am proud to say that 99% of the lightbulbs in my house are CFL’s!
I’ve changed 6 bulbs in my house—and counting!
Has anybody noticed some people are abusing this challenge just to increase their “impact”? I’ve seen some people on the leaderboard accepting this challenge 30 or 40 times at once just to boost their scoring.
We switched all of our lightbulbs to energy efficient bulbs. It has made a HUGE difference in our electric bill and I must say the light is nicer!
I switched all our bulbs over a one month period, and you can definitely see the difference in the electric bill!
When i bought my house last year, i only put in CFL’s in the light fixtures.
I already switched all of my lightbulbs to compact fluorescent!
heehee.. already have. but PLEASE… everyone don’t start doing this until your other bulb has run out! that wastes even MORE electricity!!
I went and bought 60 bulbs for my house and my parents
2 in the bathroom (bright !!), 1 in the kitchen. the color of these lihts isn’t as harsh as people made them out to be…
I moved last weekend; the first thing I bought for the house was a four-pack of CFLs. I also made sure that the two lamps that stay lit longest--my bedside reading lamp and the one in the living room—were of that type.
i have officialy changed all the lightbulbs in my house to these i think it looks brighter (idk maybe its just me) my fave thing about them is they help the enviorment and they look cool!
all of the lights on the ceiling in my living room have energy efficient light bulbs. also the lamp in my bedroom has a energy efficient light bulb.
the bedrooms in our house have all CFL’s lights. i felt good about saving engery && money.
this is a great challenge I would have done 6 bulbs but I only had 3
This was the first step I took in my goal to be green. I have changed every bulb in my house but 1 and I have not been able to find a bulb to fit that light fixture. I keep looking though.
The first thing I moved into my new apartment was to change all the old bulbs into new CFLs so I had been saving money for as long as I could remember. Also, I switch off all lights if I don’t use it. I hate having all those extra lights turned on when no one is even there.
alright so i have like 8 of these light bulbs. im on my way of changing the rest of them. they are soo much better. it’s brighter and it saves money and electricity. its like a win, win, win situation. thats gooood :]
We just changed ALL the bulbs in our house. It saves electricity AND money!
i love these bulbs..i have them in all my lights around my house..they throw off so much more light..
This challenge is relatively easy to complete and makes a huge difference immediately. I actually the light the CFL bulbs put out better. I replaced 48 bulbs at a cost around $80 – $90. This is a very small amound compared to how much I will save on electricity over the life of the bulbs. This challenge is greener for the environment and greener for your wallet too!
I knew that fluorescent bulbs were better for the enviorment but I didn`t know they were this much better!!
p.s. many states offer rebate on your CFs—in the end i paid less to switch over my whole house, after rebates, than i would to just buy new old fashioned bulbs. i keep the old bulbs for an emergency, in case a light burns out, rather than dispose of them. keeps ‘em out of the landfill a little bit longer.
all the bulbs in our house are compact fluorescents (although I wonder about the disposal problems) or halogen. we have “turn lights off when not in use” stickers on the high use switches to remind ourselves.
made this switch a few years ago and am very pleased with the result—read a tip about extending the life of your CFs by keeping the light on for an hour at a time—the on and off switching cuts down on the efficiency of CF bulbs. This takes some planning, and makes you think twice about whether you need that light on or not.
ok, change ALL the bulbs at my home ( not cheap, but worth it )
Bookfairy_az
If I’ve changed 30 lightbulbs do I get to click on the challenge 10 times? Thanks!
I changed 9 light bulbs today. Feels good.
CFLs were invented in 1976 by GE. In 1995 they sold all the rights to Philips which is in China who uses primarily coal power. http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/Philips%20CFL%20Tornado.htm If you buy incandescent lights from Toshiba (random example) you’re getting light bulbs made by nuclear plants in Japan which don’t produce any carbon.
If you have a local program for the recycling, that’s fantastic. But you are in the minority. Those kinds of facilities are specialized and can be hard to come by, and very few communities have a system in place for the disposal, so most people end up throwing them in the trash or recycling them normally, which means they end up in the trash when the sorting happens. If you break one in your home you have to worry about physical contact and inhalation of the vapor. I’m not trying to convince you not to do it. I’m just making sure people don’t get careless with all this heavily pro-cfl rhetoric flying around. Just be careful, buy from US manufacturers if you can, don’t put them in your kids rooms, and make SURE you dispose of them properly.
The 99 cent store in our area currently has a good supply of these bulbs for 99 cents each!!
Have already replaced 5 regular bulbs with Fluorescent.. It is very bright compared to the regular bulbs… We love the White light..
In response to Andrew Nunes…
You can recycle cfl bulbs and I would expect that everyone reading this forum will because of their obvious concern for the environment. I put my dead cfl bulbs (only 2 so far) in a plastic bag to recycle just in case they get broken along the way. My town recycles them and we have a convenient drop-off place (or at least convenient to me….)
You briefly touched on environmental manufacturing costs—what is the difference between the manufacture and distribution of cfl versus incandescent light bulbs? You can’t make conclusions without this information.
Of course, CFL bulbs are not perfect for every situation. I have read that cfl bulbs have a much shorter life if you typically turn them off within 15 minutes. They are great for bulbs in the home office, kitchen and other parts of the home where you usually have them on for an hour or more. CFL do not work as well for situations where you normally have the lights on for a few minutes like the closets. You’ll have to decide which lights are a good candidate for cfl bulbs and which ones are not.
With some intelligent decision making, CFL bulbs can be good for the environment and your wallet too! I figure that over the past year, I have saved about $20 a month on my electric bill due to CFL bulbs.
These are actually bad for the environment. Most of them are manufactured in China, where the factories are powered by coal power plants. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0322/p01s04-wogi.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7431198
They are ALL full of mercury which is difficult to dispose of properly and is extremely hazardous if the bulb is broken.So between the increase in carbon footprints associated with using coal power, and the added costs in disposal of the bulbs, it turns out to be no better (if not worse) for the environment to use CFL’s. Just be aware.
I found some CFLs that produce a more natural light, since I can’t stand the light that standard fluorescent bulbs emit. They are made by n:vision and are available at Home Depot. I replaced 3 last week, and am replacing the rest of my bulbs this weekend…
We only use compact fluor. They last longer, reduce cost for utility bills, and save the environment. pasiefert@optonline.net
Check this: Our local electric company has a deal where they pretty much bribe you to install CFLs. So, my wife just ran a fundraiser for our son’s elementary school. The kids sell the CFL bulbs; the school gets to keep… ALL of the money. Yup. NStar runs the deal, provides the bulbs for free… even provides incentive prizes for the kids. Not bad. Last I heard, the school was some $2000 richer and we’ll have lots of folks with new CFLs in the house.
you can find the led bulbs at ace hardwere, or home depiote.
I have allready replaced all my light bulbs with the new energy efficient light bulbs.
Does anybody have any experience with LED bulbs? I’ve heard they provide nice warm light, and are more efficient than CFLs. But, they are expensive and hard to find. Does anybody have a recommendation for good LEDs and where to find them?
We have bought only CFs for a couple of years. Other than being surprised by the delay in starting for the first couple of times we have really noticed no difference in them compared to the “old” bulbs. I never have compared the bills from then to now, however, there is always that good feeling knowing we have yet to replace any of the CFs since they have been installed.
I bet donating cfl’s to needy people or organizations would also reduce the amount of CO2 emissions.
i have been changing the bulbs gradually as the regular bulbs die. Now I am looking for a sensor that works with the cf to turn my stairway lights on at dark and off in the daytime. Any ideas which ones work with cf’s? My house was hard wired on in the stairwells years ago- there is no on/off switch.
I started replacing light bulbs last summer. I am pleased to see more & more lighting opions coming on the market.As the style I need becomes available, I can complete the task.
I changed 4 bulbs in my house yesterday.
I changed every lightbulb in my house.
I changed 12 bulbs in my house…I’m on board!
I have a total of six bulbs changed, but I wont stop now just getting started.
my lovley “schity” gave out over 1 million CFL bulbs. I swaped out my average 22 fixtures. Sucky part is they are SOOOO hard to keep clean/ dust/dirt free….hmmm…enginering task potential possibly??
I changed 53 bulbs, so Jason said to claim the challenge 17 times
I changed 53 bulbs, so Jason said to claim the challenge 17 times.
We just replaced 53 bulbs in our house. Costco, has a 10pk of bulbs w/ an instant rebate for less than $3.00. Everyone should be making the change.
The Costco in Mountain View was selling a 10 pack of fluorescent light bulbs for $13 with a PG&E Instant Rebate of $11.50, making the 10 pack just $1.50 plus tax. Our company, Casto, picked up 280 bulbs to distribute to the company. Check your local Costco to see if they are available next time you’re in!
About 2 months ago I started changing bulbs-
I have changed every light bulb in my house to energy star light bulbs over 5 years ago. My electric bill dropped 50% the first month.
All of our normal light bulbs are now CF. I hope the LED lights will soon become cheaper.
The CF bulbs are not that great in the sense that they easily conk out after a year or two, not the 5 to 7 years written in those boxes. Some of my bulbs lasted more than 7 years though, but half of them are out in just a year.
It is really troublesome and would consume more carbon to follow-up on rebates and refunds, so that you can have those truth in advertising about these bulbs. I’m still using them, because they are still cheaper overall.
So am waiting for LED to come down in prices.
Update on the Par 30 and Par 40 bulbs. These are lights that look like little flood lights. They are mostly used in track lighting and cans (recessed ceiling fixtures) and focus most of their light in a narrow space. The halogen variety are more compact and look better in cans. Although the c-fluor version doesn’t look as good, for spaces that are part of the private living space, they are a good compromise. I must say, I am not as happy with them in my office. The dimming is nice, but there seems to be a fairly narrow range. I don’t believe that I will be doing more dimming deployments. I also don’t think I will do more cans until the have a lower profile variety.
I like how the compact fluor. bulbs “fade” on…esp. in the bathroom first thing in the AM…kind to bleary eyes!
Hi Guz: what are par 40 bulbs? We have just completed a renovation and we are looking for decent dimmable bulbs to put into typical recessed fixtures (screw sockets). Any recommendations? The only dimmables I have used were quite poor. thx.
We started making the change to compact bulbs about a year ago. We were not sure that we would like cold Fluorescent lights in our house, so we first started in the unfinished part of our basement: storage area. These were traditional bulbs and an easy change. More recently we have ventured in to recessed par 40 bulbs. First in spaces like the mud/laundry room. For this challenge I replace 3 par 40 bulbs in my home office. Here I had a dimmer, and yes you can get compact fluorescent bulbs that dim. These modern lights are much warmer than fluorescent bulbs used in commercial spaces.
They recently started making Energysmart bulbs that fit practically all lights.
Like the Popular Mechanics link. here’s some more…
http://www.myenergystar.com/ProductsAndDiscounts.aspx?type=lightfixture&;menu=intro
http://www.progresslighting.com/abt_energy.cfm
We are starting to make the change in our house. One of the biggest issues was finding some bulbs that don’t make our living room feel like a dentist office. I found a review bulbs that helped us find the right ones here: www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4215199.html
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