My goal with these articles is to share things I’ve learned about common household chores by doing them wrong.
When one of the globe lights over the mirror in our bathroom burned out, I wrote down what watt they were (40), threw the burned-out bulb away and headed to Home Depot. Then I discovered that there are two kinds of 40-watt globe bulbs, clear and frosted, but I had no idea which one we needed.
The light bulb over our stove burned out last week, so I dug out my Lowe’s gift card (thank you, Santa!) and took out the old bulb to make sure I got the right replacement. You never realize how many different sizes and shapes of light bulbs there are until you’re standing in front of several hundred that are all about the same!
Before I could find the 25-watt bulb I needed, I saw a four-pack of the compact fluorescent light bulbs that have been showing up on more and more store shelves. These are also known as low-energy bulbs. Lowe’s had a good deal on these and I’ve been eager to try them, so I grabbed a pack.
As I started toward the cashier, I got nervous. Some of our lamps say the bulb can’t be bigger than 60 watts. The bulb I was replacing was 25 watts, so I assumed the bulb I needed to replace it with shouldn’t be any bigger. The problem is, the low-energy bulbs I had just picked up were 13 watts, but gave out the same amount of light as a 60-watt bulb. I decided to track down my boy Bob, also known as the guy who works in lighting at the Colorado Springs Lowe’s to sort this out. He was very helpful.
He assured me that the 13-watt bulbs I was considering would be fine in an outlet with a maximum of 25 watts. The advantage is that, instead of the 25 watts of light we’d gotten used to at the stove, this new bulb would throw out a lot more light, but with less heat than the 25-watt bulb. The heat a bulb throws out is what limits the lamps it can be used in.
Bob then brought up the difference between appliance bulbs and regular light bulbs. Appliances often vibrate, so they require a bulb whose lighting element has been reinforced. He was pretty sure the low-energy bulb would be okay, and the hood over our stove doesn’t shake as much as some I know, so I decided to risk it. I wish I had asked him why ovens require appliance bulbs. It seems to me that if your oven is shaking so much that it would effect the kind of light bulb you used, the last thing you’re going to be worrying about is the light bulb.
I thanked Bob for his help, bought the high-tech bulbs and went on-line to find out if they really were safe. I never answered this question, but I did learn a lot:
1. Low energy light bulbs can last up to 15 times longer than regular light bulbs and save up to $50 each over their lifetime. In most homes, lighting accounts for between 10 and 15% of the electricity bill; if the low energy bulbs use up to 75% less energy than a regular bulb, and they have a significantly longer lifespan, your savings become clear.
2. Low energy light bulbs can take from five to ten seconds to reach their full brightness. The one I installed over our stove comes on the way fluorescent bulbs used to—it bursts on, sputters from light to dark, then sheds steady light; a few seconds later, this light increases significantly as it hits its full, 13-watt stride.
Some compact fluorescent bulbs need to be “seasoned.” This means that until you’ve used them for up to 100 hours, they’ll burn more brightly at times and more dimly at other times. I haven’t noticed like this with ours.
One website warned that ‘the kind of low-energy bulbs you might find in a superstore are cheaply made.’ I’m not sure how reliable this is since the people behind this site were trying to sell higher-priced bulbs from the same manufacturers. I did read that some people have found the newer low energy light bulbs don’t last like the originals.
Low-energy bulbs light bulbs work the same way as fluorescent lights. Traditional light bulbs, on the other hand, have used the same design for the last 100 years(!). This explains why they’re so inefficient: ninety per cent of the energy they use goes to producing heat, which doesn’t do anything except limit the lamps you can use them in.
Low-energy bulbs are available in tubular and globe versions. I bought the tubular type, then found out that the more traditionally-shaped global bulbs burn better. Doh!
Low-energy bulbs come in two colors, warm and daylight. Not sure what the difference is. (Bob?)
Low-energy bulbs are ideal for use in lights that regularly burn for many hours at a time. And since they burn out less often, they’re great for use in hard-to-reach places that you can break your neck getting to.
Compact fluorescent bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, so you should treat them the same way you do used car oil or old batteries—launch them over the fence into your neighbor’s yard or take them to a hazardous materials disposal site.