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Your new banner wants us to switch incandescent lights for CF or LED lights. What about those of us who have already switched most of our lights to CF? ;) My hallway lights in the apartment are still incandescent but I never use them.

:woot: Heck I already had these Bulbs. I'm like so up to Date. :woot:

Terry (tiger)

Hi Sledge and Terry:

___That makes two who have performed the necessary swap to CFL’s. Hit the link and let them know as now we have just 98 to go ;) I will be doing some swaps next month myself.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

OK, I just did a pledge renewal for 10 lights. That should cover it :)

I replaced 4 in August, and I can think of 2 or 3 more that I want to do but I don't use them much. That covers every light fixture in my apartment that wasn't flourescent to begin with! (Except my 25W halogen desk lamp that never gets turned on.)

Yeah. Most of our lights are CFL. I found two that werent ;)

For those that have already changed them out I believe there is a selection for pledge renewal.

Hi Sledge and Terry:

___That makes two who have performed the necessary swap to CFL’s. Hit the link and let them know as now we have just 98 to go ;) I will be doing some swaps next month myself.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne did that 1st thing this morning before I did the Post here: ;)

Terry (tiger)

About five years ago, I changed out nearly all the lights.

Same here, every light in my house is already a cfl, except maybe the fridge bulb. Now that I've read the thread, I clicked the link to renew my pledge for 10 cfls. Maybe a note at the top of this thread so people that read the thread bottom to top get the idea and click the link, I was going to skip it because I already have changed my lights.

Dennis

Picked up the lights today and fulfilled my pledge.

Come on guys spread the word. We only have 9 pledges out of 100! Tell your friends to come here and click the link. They don't have to register on cleanmpg to do it. It's simple and all it costs is what ever they have to pay for the light bulbs.

I think there are only two or three lights in the whole house that aren't flourescent. Those are in places that rarely get used. I'm living in my grandpa's house and it has had flourescents since it was built after the Palm Sunday tornados in 1965. I'll check out the link.

Heh. It has been mentioned before, that you can affirm your pledge if you already have CFLs .

For some reason I can't seem to find the link to the pledge.

You need to click on the image next to the text. It now only shows up on the forum home page. So click the Community Forums link and scroll down a little.

I've been using CFLs for all my "utility" lights for quite
a while now. I sent a longish rant (http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=23844&st=33) into Priuschat about
the problems I and many acquaintances have had with them.
.
I also do theatre lighting on occasion, and there's no technology
that has yet shown any chance of replacing those nice, warm
energy-sucker halogens for the right quality of smooth, dimmable
light. Even discharge instruments don't quite do it because
they're still visually harsher.
.
_H*

I read some of your experiments trying to make florescent lights or whatever go on without flickering or something. Your page goes way over my head but I think I had the gist of what you were saying even if I didn't totally understand it ;)

Oh, you mean the dimmer thing? That was actually for halogens...
just a way to avoid that annoying "pop-on" that most generic home
dimmers do. I was mildly astounded that those same dimmer modules
can easily handle a 1000-watt stage instrument...
.
_H*

Yeah. That was it. You wrote it well. It was kind of like I was sitting next to you as you were playing with it.

Hi All:

___My employer (one of the largest electrical generators in the US) is also a participant in the Change the Light pledge and offers a 67% discount on multi-store brand varieties I am not yet familiar with. I will be looking at the details tonight however.

ComEd Change a Light – Change the World program (http://www.exeloncorp.com/ComedCare/act/ChangeLight/)

___I hope most will find their own utility offering such a program to not only defer the expense somewhat but also for a possible choice of manufactures and sizing. If anyone has the time to find a detailed HQ write up on the various brands/manufactures/choices available from Ace Hardware, Do It Best Hardware, Menards, Home Depot and True Value Hardware, I would greatly appreciate it!

___Hobbit, thanks for the dimming CFL write up. What other issues have you seen over the years with them? From my understanding, most will last the promised hours vs. the iffy promises from the past. Chinese sweat shops and all?

___Tom, the Home page banners, logo’s, and rotating pics are missing as of this writing. I know you are doing something cool but not sure exactly what ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Some of the registered users suggested removing them so they could surf a little faster. They still show up for guests.

I will also be removing the ads as well. Only the forum home page will have the banners and ads and stuff for registered users.

I've had terrible luck with CFL's.
I think the last time I mentioned about this I had just replaced the flood for our flag with a CFL rated for outdoor use. It lasted 4 days until burning out so I put the old 60W regular flood back and been there since.
I don't know exactly what the problem is, whether it's electrical spikes or what....but mine burn out in short as couple days time, and as long as around 5-6 months. Most last 2-3 months.
Except in a single solitary instance- we have a 3-bulb 6ft fixture in our back yard with 3 outdoor CFL's...inside glass globes but still well vented which have lasted over a year, turning on most every night.

Otherwise my CFL's are not put in a heat-trapping enclosure like a globe or anything so they have the required ventilation.
I've mostly bought the GE brand but have tried others as well.
Sometimes they work one day then quit for no apparent reason. Other times an electric arc can be heard inside the base, then it dims and goes out.

Somehow the containers for the last batch of 8 CFL's got tossed and can't return them, so I guess I'm just "out". :(

Hi All:

___Added 6 CFL’s to my homes lighting this evening. Another 6 next week and the week after should just about finish it off :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

2 to 3 years ago we changer every possible light that we could. Our energy plan changed by 30 to 40 dollars lower per month,:bananapowerslide:

Yeah, every light in our apartment uses flourescent bulbs. I kid you not, there are a couple that we've had for probably five or more years and we use them every day. The ones that are sold in "dollar stores" or similar low-priced bulbs burn out very easily, though.

All of our flashlights use LEDs, by the way. I've bought hand-cranked ones that lose their charging power over time, and I've tried the ones that use the "Faraday" technology where you shake it violently for five minutes to use. But they put out so little light it's not even worth it. It's better just buying a regular LED flashlight and using rechargeable batteries.

And here's a great site I think you guys would like reading. Very informative... http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/

Hi All:

___And CleanMPG is a little behind the 8-ball here! Start replacing those std. bulbs with CFL’s at your earliest convenience :D

CleanMPG, an Energy Star partner. Change a light, change the World (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showpledgedriverdetails&cpd_id=1395).

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I have changed all of mine except for a few decorator bulbs. The price of those have finally started coming down. I saw a show on Discovery last week that tested standard incandescent ,led, cfl, fluorescent, and metal halide. They tested life and power consumption. I am going to order a "Kill A Watt".
Looks like users in Southern Illinois need to use a candle. Power prices in Illinois are deregulated as of Jan. 1 and our power price increase is about 55%.

Hi Msirach:

___We were running ~ $0.085/kWh for the first 400 kW and ~ $0.065 for anything higher + service and delivery charges but are expecting rates in the $0.09 - 0.10/kWh range this month looking forward. I do not know if there will be the non-summer, greater then 400 kWh rate anymore as this is what I was hoping to charge a future PHEV on ;) We are still a bargain compared to California and in line with much of the Midwest but the rate hikes throughout Illinois are not going to be pretty for many …

Post 2006 Retail Electric Service Tariffs – Supply Charges (http://www.exeloncorp.com/NR/rdonlyres/32C7A395-248E-4B79-9B19-DB6B5A86C34F/2207/AttachmentASupplementalCPPBlended1.pdf)

Supply Charges applicable beginning January 2, 2007 and extending
through the May 2008 Billing Period.

Customer Group or Subgroup|Summer Supply Charge (1) (cents/kWh)| Nonsummer Supply Charge (1) (cents/kWh)
Residential Non-Electric Space Heating|7.320|7.149
Residential Electric Space Heating|4.935|4.763
Watt-hour Non-Electric Space Heating|7.475|7.265
Small Load Non-Electric Space Heating|7.370|7.217
Medium Load Non-Electric Space Heating|7.275|7.177
Nonresidential Electrical Space Heating|7.027|6.914
Dusk to Dawn Lighting|2.659|3.176
General Lighting|6.948|6.926

Notes: (1) Uncollectibles factor applied pursuant to Rate BES-R, Rate BES-NRB, Rate BES-L or Rider PPO-MVM

___I work for Exelon Nuclear (parent of ComEd) so have a somewhat vested interest in the pricing statements above but do not know exactly what they will be until next week? The ComEd rate pages posted above spell out a rate schedule far different then what the media has been reporting?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Our power options in Kansas City aren't deregulated, so we're stuck with Aquila where I'm located. You may recall some corporate shenanegans that nearly bankrupted the company while higher-ups embezzled funds -- so now we get to pay for that! :mad:

But, the heat-pump is the most efficient heating system in our toolbox, but useless under 40F. The backup system is a very inefficient natural-gas burner. We bought the house new a couple years ago and the HVAC system was already installed. The EnergyGuide for the gas portion is almost buried in the "stupidly inefficient" category -- but too new to cost-effectively replace it. Buggah! It the meantime, heat conservation is the key: insulating blinds at night, opened to let the sunlight heat the house (when the sun decides to come out -- it's been icy, snowy, and generally gray the last 3 weeks. Anyway the sun heating the indoors produces the greenhouse effect), programmable thermostat, a sweater, and some supplemetal electrical heat in the garage offsets insulating losses there.

During the summer, the A/C (same heat-pump unit) is overworked and struggles to keep the house below the threshold of comfort. That's where the lights come in...

90% of our household bulbs are the Type-A florescents. An instant energy savings and decrease in waste heat was realized. They've paid for themselves in the fact I don't get baked under the 5, 60W bulbs at the dinner table :p. I can get a brighter bulb and still use a significantly less amount of NRG.

The initial investment is worth every penny.

RH77

Edit: I delved back into the thread and have a few comments: I've been using CFLs from CostCo outdoors for about 7 months. Since a light-sensing automatic sensor doesn't work (the bulb flickers until it gets completely dark), they're left on all the time and they've lasted this long without problem: temp ranges = 110F in the summer to -1*F so far this Winter. The energy saved by leaving them on outside vs. turning them on and off should be offset. As far as the harshness of the light, you get used to it. My wife really disliked the lights at first, but she has been quoted to say, "You know, I don't really mind these new lights and have gotten used to them -- and they're saving us a bundle...right Rick?" Accompanied by that look: you know the one. The only trouble: having 1 bulb in a pack of 5 not work at all. That was a pain to return. Otherwise, the effort is worth it. We donated the old incandescents to needy families that aren't able to afford much, instead of pitching them -- it already took a large amount of energy to produce the glass, so they have to be used until dead.