The difference between CFL and LED bulbs illuminated.

 News Channel 5 viewer Debi Charnisky wanted to know the difference between LED and CFL bulbs, so News Channel 5's Heidi Glaus set out to illuminate the differences in this week's Hey Heidi! segment.
No doubt, light bulbs aren't what they used to be, for years our biggest dilemma was about watts, but that was before LED and CFL bulbs hit the market.
So to help shine a little light on the subject, we turned to Jeff Berg at Ameren.
"So LEDs have that longer life, they also perform better in very cold temperatures and they're instant on. An energy star rated CFL can take up to one minute to come up to full brightness," Berg explains.
They should last longer than what you're used to.
"So with the CFLs you're going to get up to a 10 year life. LEDs will be much longer, 20 to 25 years," Berg goes on to say.
Both are more energy efficient, but at this point, you have a few more options with CFLs, you know, the squiggly ones.
"So you can get anything in the CFLs like a little candelabra, flood lights, spotlights, these regular lights. You're not going to see quite the variety in the LEDs yet," Berg adds.
When it comes to switching out an old CFL or LED, both should be recycled.

"Ameren Missouri does provide over 100 free recycling locations throughout our service territory so if people go to www.actonenergy.com and click on locator tool and that will show them where they can find a close recycling location," Berg explains.
"The LEDs are considered electronic waste so you recycle that the same way you would recycle a computer or a DVD player," he goes on to say.
That's because there's actually a computer chip inside LED bulbs. Of course, both of these bulbs are more expensive than those old incandescent bulbs, so here's one more bright idea from Jeff.
"If you're going to be replacing your old bulbs with the new efficient bulbs, the best way to do that is to start with the areas that use the most light. So, I would start with your reading lamp or your kitchen lights and work back from there," Berg suggests.
Eventually we will all have to make the switch, because one day incandescent bulbs will go dim.

Source:KSDK

Welcome to the year of the Light bulb!!

Happy New Year! And welcome to the year of light…bulbs. Why you ask? Well, it's not just because LEDs lit up the iconic New Year's ball drop here in New York City again. No, it's because this is the year that lighting will finally become more efficient.

The old, incandescent light bulb turns 90 percent of the electricity it uses into heat rather than light. And in 2012, it will be phased out in the U.S.—or at least radically upgraded. Light bulbs will be required to meet new energy efficiency standards. So the old 100-watt light bulb will have to produce the same light using just 72 watts.

Lighting is the original killer app of modern energy—and one that the world continues to embrace. By adopting lighting technologies that use less energy the nations of the world will cut down on the fossil fuels, often coal, burned to produce that light.

So whether it's new, long-lasting but expensive light-emitting diodes, the swirls of a compact fluorescent or just more efficient incandescent, 2012 will be the year that lighting's environmental impact gets lighter.

Source: Scientific American

Liberty for Light Bulbs -- The Next Battle In America's Fight for Freedom

This year, the Tea Party hopes to turn the 2012 elections into a fight for American freedom. Their first salvo -- the electric light bulb. Last month, they threatened to shut down the government unless new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs were delayed. They succeeded and the final budget deal prohibits the Deparment of Energy from spending on the new rules.

In 2007, Congress passed The Energy Independence and Security Act that included a provision authored by Republican Congressman Fred Upton giving light bulb manufacturers until 2012 to produce light bulbs that used 25 percent less energy than old-fashioned, energy wasting incandescent bulbs.

Upton's press release stated that "Current incandescent bulbs on store shelves are obsolete and highly inefficient -- only 10 percent of the energy consumed by each bulb is for light with 90 percent wasted on unnecessary heat. Today's incandescent bulbs employ the same technology as the bulbs Thomas Edison first created over 120 years ago." The bill passed in a lopsided 319-100 vote and the support of 49 percent of the Republicans who voted.

Since lighting accounts for 30 percent of all electricity use, the new standard would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tons. And we'd all breathe a little easier. Electricity generated to power our lighting threatens us all. Producing more electricity creates more pollution. More pollution creates more illness -- asthma, cancer, heart disease -- and adds greenhouse gases (many conservatives don't believe humans are responsible for global warming, but they must believe toxic chemicals cause cancer). So, almost every time each one of us turns on light in our homes, something is burning to keep it lit. More than 70 percent of the time our electricity comes from burning coal, oil or natural gas and another 20 percent comes from nuclear fission reactions.

The incandescent light bulb is partly responsible, then, for the pollution that comes from power plants. And that pollution contains mercury, fine particulate matter that causes asthma and other toxic gases such as arsenic, lead and cadmium, spewed through smokestacks. Studies show that eight percent of women of child-bearing age in this country have mercury levels in their blood that could cause lower IQ in their children. Using more efficient light bulbs is one thing we can all do to reduce energy use, and thus pollution that harms us all.

Major bulb manufacturers like General Electric, Philips and Osram Sylvania, lobbied unsuccessfully to keep the standards. Knowing that the new standards were nearing, the bulb makers created more efficient, brighter, compact fluorescent light bulbs that brighten immediately. (Older versions annoyingly brightened gradually.) The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) -- no friend of environmental regulations argued for a consistent set of rules and accused the GOP of creating more uncertainty for the industry.

The light bulb battle isn't about dollars and cents, it's the latest talking point designed to stir up the GOP right wing base about "big government" limiting Americans' freedom by allegedly limiting their consumer choices. But the GOP and Tea Party won't acknowledge that freedoms have limits -- especially when our actions harm others. Speed limits prevent reckless driving that endangers other motorists or pedestrians; smoking bans protect non-smokers (and children) from cancer-causing second-hand smoke; we aren't allowed to throw our trash on the street; businesses can't create dangerous workplaces that injure or kill workers.

Tea Party conservatives branded the light bulb rules as just another big government intrusion in our lives. It's "them" telling "us" what to do; how to live; what we can buy; what we can't buy.

Michele Bachman introduced the Light Blub Freedom of Choice Act last year to repeal the new standards. "President Bachmann will allow you to buy any light bulb you want in the United States of America," she said after announcing her presidential bid. Bachman is today's freedom fighter -- but for whom? Or what? She said in a speech in November, "I believe in liberty for light bulbs."

Newer, more efficient light bulbs will actually save consumers $12 billion per year. And the energy standards will make new energy saving technologies like the LED bulbs that lit the new Times Square Ball that dropped on New Year's Eve become cheaper as more consumers buy them.

But even if the new standards did cost more, it would be worth the price. If they require more care to dispose of used bulbs, it'd be worth the effort. We don't have the right to pollute, poison or harm others -- whether it saves money or costs. That's not freedom and certainly not democracy.

Source: Huffington Post

New Lighting Facts Label: Takes the Guess Work Out of Shopping for Light Bulbs

If you're like me, it sometimes feels overwhelming standing at the store and staring at a big wall of light bulbs, trying to understand all the lighting choices. With new lighting standards taking effect this year, now's a great time switch to energy-saving incandescent, CFL, and LED light bulbs, which are available in most hardware and home improvement retailers. They all are more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, and upgrading 15 of the inefficient incandescent light bulbs in your home could save you about $50 per year.

I've learned that when I'm shopping for light bulbs, it's most important to compare lumens to be sure I'm getting the amount of light, or level of brightness, I want. More lumens means it's a brighter light; fewer lumens means it's a dimmer light.

The brightness, or lumen levels, of the lights in your home may vary widely, so here's a rule of thumb:

• To replace a 100-watt (W) incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens. If you want something dimmer, go for less lumens; if you prefer brighter light, look for more lumens.
• Replace a 75 W bulb with an energy-saving bulb that gives you about 1100 lumens.
• Replace a 60 W bulb with an energy-saving bulb that gives you about 800 lumens.
• Replace a 40 W bulb with an energy-saving bulb that gives you about 450 lumens.

To help people like you and me better understand the switch from watts to lumens, the Federal Trade Commission will require a new product label for light bulbs in the coming months. It will help people buy the light bulbs that are right for them.


The Lighting Facts label will help consumers understand what they are really purchasing. The label clearly provides the lumens—or brightness—of the bulb, the estimated operating cost for the year, and the color of the light (from warm/yellowish, to white to cool/blue).

Source: ECN

How will light bulbs change? Here are some answers

The nation's new light bulb rules start taking effect Sunday. What exactly do they require, and what's their likely impact, since Congress barred funds to enforce the efficiency standards? Here are some answers:

Q: What's included in the new standards? 

A: The standards require light bulbs be at least 25% more efficient and carry labels on the front and back of packages to explain their brightness, annual operating costs and expected life span.

The labels apply to all light bulbs made or imported after Jan. 1, but the efficiency standards apply only to traditional 100-watt incandescents on that day. The efficiency rules will begin applying to the old-fashioned 75-watt bulb in January 2013 and 40- and 60-watt bulbs in January 2014. Retailers can sell leftover bulbs as long as they weren't made or imported after their deadline.

  

Q: Do the standards ban all incandescents?

A: No. Edison's bulbs won't meet the rules, but the halogen incandescent will. So, too, will the CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) and the LED (light-emitting diode), each of which is at least 75% more efficient than the traditional incandescent. Also, the rules don't apply to less commonly used incandescents such as appliance, three-way and colored bulbs.

  

Q: Do these efficient alternatives have a yellowish light?

A: Not necessarily. The back of each light bulb package will list the "light appearance," or color, of the bulb, measured on a temperature scale known as Kelvin (K). Lower Kelvin numbers mean the light is more yellow, while higher numbers mean it's whiter or bluer.

The traditional incandescent, which gives off a warm and almost yellowish light, has a temperature of 2,700 to 3,000K — similar to most halogens. Newer CFLs have a wider range, from warm (2,700K) to cold (6,500K). LED temperatures range from 3,300K to 5,000K.

Q: What's all this talk about lumens?

A: Lumens, which will be listed on the front of a light bulb's package, are a measure of a bulb's brightness. In contrast, a bulb's wattage is a measure of its energy use. The more lumens, the brighter the light. The old 100-watt incandescent yields about 1,600 lumens, while the 40-watt bulb provides about 450 lumens.

Q: Do all the new bulbs contain mercury? How dangerous is that?

A: Halogens and LEDs don't contain mercury, but CFLs have trace amounts (an average 4 milligrams per bulb; older thermometers have about 500 milligrams). No mercury is released unless the bulb breaks, but if that happens, consumers need to take special precautions in cleaning up and disposing of the bulbs. The Environmental Protection Agency offers cleanup tips: http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html#instructions.

"The concerns are overblown," says Ed Crawford, CEO of Philips Lighting North America. "There's more mercury in a plate of sushi than a CFL," he says, arguing that's why the U.S. government warns people not to eat too much tuna.

Q: Are more efficient bulbs dimmable?

A: Halogens and LEDs can be dimmed, but many cheaper CFLs cannot.

Source: US Today

Beginning of end for old-fashioned light bulbs

In the beginning, there was darkness.

Then came fire.

It wasn't until the 19th century that artificial light was first generated.

The big leap came in the 1880s, when Thomas Edison lit homes across America with the incandescent bulb.

For the next 130 years, incandescents ruled the nights, the roads, and especially the Christmas tree.

Let there be LEDs

But today, the last glowing filaments of that living room powerhouse are burning out.

Beginning with the new year, federal law will require all light bulbs to be 25 percent more efficient, leaving Edison's beacon of late night fun out in the dark and flipping the switch to its more frugal counterparts, such as the long-lasting compact fluorescent.

"You might install a light bulb in your foyer, when you're kids are born and that light bulb will still be working, no problem, when the kids go off to college," says Ed Crawford of the Phillips, North American Lighting Division.

But not everybody is thrilled with the change. For one thing, the alternatives are significantly more expensive up front.

Concerns over prices even reached the campaign trail, where Republican presidential hopeful and Minn. Rep. Michele Bachmann declared, "I believe in liberty for light bulbs" - meaning - continuing to give consumers a choice.

Many consumers complain the newer bulbs just don't look right.

"There's a pushback," says lighting engineer and historian Dave Dilaura, "from people who say, 'I'm sitting in my living room, I want a warm, comfortable light. And that's the word they use-- warm."

Crawford concedes that, "Some of the earlier compact fluorescent products; they were not ready for primetime. They buzzed. They had lousy color. They made everything grayish-green."

But, while compact fluorescents aren't winning any prizes, Phillips, the world's largest lighting company, recently won $10 million from the Department of Energy for work in a leading alternative - LED lighting. LEDs produce a warm glow, similar to a standard, 60 watt incandescent. They fit anywhere and are powered by a mere 9 watts.

While it will continue to burn bright in the near future, Edison's most storied invention may be headed into the night.

Says Dilaura, "It's the nature of technology. It has a lifetime, a start and an end. It's time to end."

Four-point-seven billion sockets in the U.S. alone await that future.

But, earlier this month, Republicans in Congress managed to eliminate all funding to enforce the new law - which was signed in 2007 by then-President Bush.

Still, manufacturers have already started phasing out production of the old bulbs.

Source: CBS New

Tips on Shopping for Energy-Efficient Bulbs

How many types of light bulbs does it take to confuse consumers? Three, apparently.
This month, federal energy efficiency legislation, passed in 2007, went into effect. That means old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs are being phased out, in favor of energy-saving models. Beginning Jan. 1, for instance, lights as bright as older 100-watt incandescent bulbs can use no more than 72 watts of electricity, according to the Lumen Coalition, a coalition of organizations and businesses that aims to educate the public about energy-efficient lighting. Eventually, other types of bulbs must be made more efficient too.

The change has caused some confusion, and some people have even hoarded the old-fashioned bulbs. But consumer advocates say new bulbs are now available that look similar to the old ones, but use less energy. (Stores do not have to take the old ones off the shelves — they just won’t be restocking supplies.)

There are three types of energy-efficient bulbs that have emerged. They generally cost more than the older types of bulbs, but save on electricity costs over the long run, according to a new guide from the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union:

Halogen incandescent These look like old-fashioned light bulbs, but use at least 25 percent less energy and last up to three times as long. They cost about $1.50 per bulb.

Compact fluorescent These use up to 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times as long. They cost about $2 per bulb.

Light-emitting diode These can last up to 25 years and save 75 percent or more in energy costs. One big catch is that they are currently quite pricey. They cost about $25 per bulb.

To help sort out the new choices — some bulbs are better than others, depending on where and how you use them — several groups have published light bulb guides. The bulb maker Sylvania has a handy chart that shows what bulbs can replace the old ones around your house.
Another helpful guide is available from the Natural Resources Defense Council. And there are some smartphone apps that can help, too.
Have you tried to buy light bulbs lately? What was your experience?

Source: The New York Times