Do compact florescent bulbs really pay for themselves?

Question

In savings on the electric bill?

Answer 1

YES. I used to pay around $85 and in the first month after I changed all bulbs in the apartment went down to $55/58. It paid the investment in just one month.

Answer 2

Over time they will. Not only do they use about 1/3 of the electricity they last about 10 times as long.

Lets say you pay $.50 for a standard bulb, and $4.00 for a CFL. Well you've saved $1.00 right there, not to mention having to replace the lamp once or twice a year instead of once or twice a month.

As far as energy savings, if you did your whole house in CFL's, the estimated savings would be roughly $100 per year.

Answer 3

Yes, over time. Lets say you are using 50 cents to buy a regular light bulb and you change your lamps bulb twice a month that would cost 12 dollars as opposed to a four dollar florescent light bulb you change twice a year you save 4 dollars. Not that much to save, less to recycle, less work, more light.

Answer 4

Unquestionably, the bulbs pay for themselves. The bulbs last longer and are more efficient, and they are cheaper than ever before. Individuals, families, and businesses will save money with CFs. These days, the luminance of CFs is comparable, and consumers can buy CFs with the same light color they get from incandescents.

With regards to overall societal cost, they also pay for themselves this way. The energy use is significantly lower, reducing pollution at the power generation facility. Mercury, for example, is present in CF bulbs and not in incandescents. However, the amount of energy saved reduces more mercury than is being contained (up to 5mg), because an incandescent will result in the power generation facility emitting more mercury overall. In addition, you can take your used CF bulb back to either the point of purchase (sometimes) or the manufacturer (or check earth911.org for facilities) for disposal.

CFs are a great way to go for reducing your cost, reducing your energy consumption, and reducing your pollution.

Answer 5

Since the power company where I live has raised the rates claiming that they weren't making a profit, I can't say for sure that they will. I can say that they have saved me money in not having to change them constantly. I am the parent of a handicapped adult that insists on lights being on at all times and I really hate to think of the light bulbs that I have changed over the years before deciding to change to the longer lasting bulbs. One lamp in the house has been on continuously for 4 years and I still haven't had to change the bulb. Also they don't go out when the lamp is bumped as do many of the cheaper types.

Answer 6

Yes, these bulb do really work, they are more efficient than incandescents as they use less energy to emit the same amount of light. Traditional incandescents typically waste about 90% in emitting heat.

The average household uses about 19% of their electricity consumption on lighting, so by installing CFLs in your home you are likely to reduce your bill by 14% on average.

The Energy Saving Trust, say that over their lifetime a 100W incandescent replaced with a 20W energy saving bulb should save £100 over its lifetime. The EPA offer more conservative estimates of at least $30 (but is based on smaller bulb comparison and variations of included data).

If you look around you can get energy saving bulbs for under $1 from respected names such as GE and Phillips.

But be sure to recycle the bulbs properly.

Do not believe the stories of $2000 clean ups. These are based on an unfounded story regarding misinformation.

Energy Saver
http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

Answer 7

Florescent bulbs definitely pay for themselves in the long run. They work more efficiently resulting in longer life spans and much less energy use. Supposedly they can save $30 U.S. in their lifetime when used in place of a traditional incandescent light bulb. When you figure the few dollars it takes to buy one, its well worth the price.

Answer 8

Depending on how much your lights stay on...if you had you lights on all the time you would be able to see the diff. in your bill but useing them "normally" it would take you adding up about 3 or 4 bills to notice...But yes they do


tothe guy up top that said Disposal cost is greater that is wrong if yuo buy the good kind yes they cost more BUT you can take them in when they go out and they are free because they want to reuse them

Answer 9

If you break a CFL bulb by dropping it on your floor:

You had better not contact your state DEQ as it can cost you $$$$ for an emergency response contractor to come out and remediate your floor. There is a real life case where a homeowner had to pony up $2000 out of her pocket to clean up a mercury spill.

It is not covered under your homeowner's insurance and banks aren't too friendly to loan you the money unless you have the collateral.

Answer 10

Back in 99 we bought our home all the lifetime florescent lightbulb's as we were told and it is now 2007 and the are still going strong so yes I think they do pay for themselves.