Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)

     Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple change will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, we’d reduce carbon dioxide production by more than 90 billion pounds! Compact fluorescent bulbs last an average of 10,000 hours (5 years of typical use) compared with only 750 hours for a typical incandescent bulb.
    Since compact fluorescent bulbs use less energy to operate, they place less demand on the power companies, and help reduce power plant pollution and waste. A single 13 watt CFL light fixture over it’s 10,000 hour life can save the following when compared to an ordinary 60 watt incandescent fixture:  400 pounds of coal, 1200 pounds of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and …16 pounds of acid rain-producing emissions, or 25 milligrams of plutonium waste, if your energy source is nuclear.
    CFLs are now commercially available at most hardware and lighting outlets in comparable lumen output to standard incandescent lamps - also as dimmable and three-way lamps.  You can purchase CFLs online from the Energy Federation, Inc. at www.energyfederation.org