Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs

Lighting accounts for approximately 7 - 10% of household electricity costs, but is one of the areas in which the most advances are being made quickly 

According to Energy Rating, lighting accounts for around 10% of electricity usage in households, and 18–40% of in commercial premises.While the cost of good LEDs is higher, the initial outlay is repaid many times over. Changes to your light bulbs and lighting strategies are one area you can both save money and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions at the same time without much effort.

Changes to your light bulbs and lighting strategies are one area you can both save money and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions at the same time without much effort. 

The money

If you still have incandescent light bulbs, it is time to think of replacing these very inefficient globes and potentially cut your lighting power bill in half. Here are some alternatives (and let's say your light bulb spend is around $300 per year with incandescent lights):

• Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are by far the most expensive up front, but the lowest power users and they will drop your $300 to around $30.
  
• Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs are not particularly expensive up front and will drop your $300 by around 3/4 to $75. They aren't very good however at being switched on and off constantly. 
• Energy Saver Halogen light bulbs are on average 30% more efficient than an incandescent so you will drop your $300 to around $200.

The environment

LED lights are by far the cheapest lights to run, at about half a CFL and one tenth the cost of an incandescent. They don’t contain mercury (although they contain nickel and the red ones contain lead and arsenic). LEDs emit half the CO2 of a CFL, have a life span of 50,000 hours compared to 8,000 CFL hours).

CFLs contain about 4 milligrams of mercury (Hg) - about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. To put that into perspective, those old fashioned thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury. The mercury in CFL bulbs can be harmful if they aren't disposed of appropriately, which is pretty much always. (Mercury, glass, aluminium and phosphor powder in light bulbs can all be recycled.)

The law

While the detail is still dithering, in April 2018, ANZ Energy Ministers agreed to phase out halogen light bulbs in Australia and introduce minimum standards for LED lamps in line with European Union (EU) standards. The phase out removes a range of the remaining incandescent light bulbs and halogen light bulbs from the Australian market, where an equivalent LED light bulb is available. The regulations are expected to come into effect in 2022-2023.

There are heaps of energy saver tips on ekko.world and you can ask specific questions of any of the writers for more info.  


Images: Unsplash | Connor Wells

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