How does using CFLs reduce CO2 emissions?

Question

I don't get it. I mean its not like incandecents are literally "pumping" carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Someone please explain

OK someone tell me more about these "halogen" bulbs. never heard of 'em.

Answer 1

CFLs use less energy than incandescents. Less energy means less power produced by coal power plants, which means lower CO2 emissions.

Answer 2

I have to disagree with the answer that says halogen bulbs are more efficient than cfl's - they are not. They last a little bit longer than incandescents, but use just as much watts. Cfl's are still the best bet.
Compare a halogen and a cfl at the store that are rated at the same light output. It will be very obvious halogens are not the best choice.

Answer 3

Halogen lights produce a nice white light. They often consume 200 to 500 watts per bulb. They also produce enough heat to be used as a space heater. I have a shop light that uses 2 500 watt halogen lights. It makes working on my cars in the middle of a cool summer night just as easy as working on them during the day. The rest of my house uses CFL's. I noticed a nice drop on my power bill when I made the switch. My in-laws still use incandescent lights and spend triple what I do on power.

As far as cleaning up a busted bulb, a broom, vacuum or shop vac will take of that with no major health or environmental impact.

Answer 4

They can save about $50 a year over regular bulbs. They're a little more expensive, but not too bad.

I don't believe in the California law that bans all other types of light bulbs because that's just plain wrong. Restricting freedom is not the American way.

The only real problem with these bulbs is that if they break they leak out deadly mercury vapor and you have to call a Has-mat team to clean up the mess. I've read where that costs about $2000. So be very careful with them.

Similarly you have to make sure you dispose of them correctly. Many office supply places and I think Home Depot have places to dispose of them, but make sure you don't throw them in your garbage can due to the mercury content.

As for reducing CO2, that may be indirect. If you get your power from a nuclear power plant then CO2 is not an issue. Also, CO2 is a natural gas, so there's no need to be afraid of it. It's what plants live on and it represents 0.03% of the greenhouse layer, so it's not an issue.

Most of the greenhouse layer is water vapor, but I guess it's not as cool to be against water. Besides, the greenhouse layer is what keeps our planet warm at night. Without it we would freeze once the sun goes down each night.

Answer 5

Good answers above, just to add as a side issue - if it's practical then use halogen bulbs, these are the really small but bright bulbs. They use even less electric than CFL's and don't contain the toxins that CFL's do.

- - - - - - - - - -

EDIT:

Sorry, I've caused confusion. Halogens is a term we use over here in the UK for LED type lights (as opposed to halogen spotlights or floodlights). Very small but very bright bulbs, use almost no power, a hamster running round in a wheel can power half a dozen of them, a single flashlight battery will power a small one for several days. There's obviously a different name for them in the US and I don't know what it is.

Answer 6

Halogen bulbs are not more efficient. First off they use more electricity per lumen than CFLs and they produce ALOT more heat than incandescent bulbs and cfl's combined.

More heat means more AC to keep your house cool (im in the south where its hot).

Answer 7

I think that by "CFLs" you mean compact fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs use a lot less energy (electricity) than incandescent bulbs. To make the same amount of light, they use about 1/4 of the energy that an incandescent uses.

Put another way, an incandescent uses 4 times as much electricity to make the same amount of light. (By the way, most of this extra energy is turned into heat, which is why an incandesent will be warm to the touch after it's been on for a while but a fluorescent won't).

Why does it matter how much electricity the bulbs use? Good question. Most of the electricity (over 70%) in the U.S. is generated by burning coal. As you might imagine, burning coal releases a lot of CO2 into the air.

In fact, one of the best things we can do as environmentally conscious consumers is to reduce electricity use. We can also become educated about and support the use of alternative electricity generation methods such as wind power.

If you want to know some other ways to reduce electricity consumption:

1. When possible use gas to heat instead of electricity. It takes a LOT of electricity to heat something up. Gas dryers, water heaters, stoves, ovens, and heaters are more efficient than the electric versions.

2. Most of a house's electricity goes to heating and cooling. If you can put in a house fan for the summer (to pull hot air up out of the roof), keep your heating and cooling systems in good repair, get better insulation, and try to make less work for your air conditioner, that would help alot. I know someone who leaves their back door open in the hot California summer for the dog to go in and out--with the air on full blast. Very bad!

3. Grampa was right when he asked you to turn out the light when you leave the room. If you're not usin' it, turn it off. The screen on a computer uses almost as much energy as the rest of the computer. If you can't turn the whole thing off, at least turn the screen off if you have to be away for a few minutes. Also, some appliances use more energy than others. For example, most TVs use more energy than most radios.

4. Keep your 'fridge in good repair (keep it dust-free underneath by vacuuming dust away, for example), or get a new model if you can. Refridgerators are HUGE energy users. The new ones are more efficient than older models. Also, leaving the door open actually makes the house hotter. A fridge works by pushing hot air out into the room. In the process, its motor heats up to do that work, making it even warmer.

One last note about fluorescent bulbs: They last 7 to 15 times longer than incandescents. However, you will shorten their life if you use them with lamps that have a dimmer feature (where you can turn the light from brighter to dimmer and back again).

You can find out more about fluorescent and incandescent bulbs from wikipedia.

Answer 8

It's the power plants that run the incandescents that create the carbon dioxide.

Power plants don't run at a steady rate. If you use a CFL, you use less energy, the power plants slow down and create less CO2.