I’ve replaced the bulk of the lights in our house with the fluorescent energy saving variety in a sort of joint attempt at saving money and doing my bit for the environment. We have fancy touch-sensitive dimmer switches in the bedrooms, and spotlights in the kitchen and upstairs landing, so they couldn’t be changed, but the two big lights in the lounge, plus the two lamps in there, and a new bathroom light that I fitted are all doing their part to save the world, now.
The pair of lights in the living room, equipped with two bulbs each, provide a good standard of light when they’re on, and the warm up time takes away the harshness that regular bulbs have. This is especially welcome first thing in the morning when I switch on the bathroom light – it’s almost soothing compared to the WHAM! effect the old spotlights had.
Unfortunately the bathroom one isn’t really bright enough for me – I went with two energy savers that were the equivalent of 60 watt bulbs, but I think I should have maybe gone with the 75 watt equivalent ones instead. I had figured that if they weren’t bright enough I could just replace them when they ran out, but as these things last for a couple of years it could be a long wait.
Every time I put the lights on now, I’m thinking; “wow… this is saving a shit load of energy.” There are probably guys sitting at the Grid control center, frowning at a read-out and scratching their chins at the sudden excess of power available since I made the switch.
I’ve been wondering about leaving them on all day, every day for a few months just to see if I could get my energy company to owe me money! 🙂
