Efficient bulbs can lighten your energy load

With money so tight, you can help your budget by remembering what mom said: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Here’s a little primer about home lighting and whether those newfangled, high-tech bulbs really conserve energy and save money.

By law, packaging must include information to help you select the most energy-efficient bulbs for your needs. Let’s throw some light on your choices.

Incandescent bulbs are the pear-shaped cuties that usually light everything from porches to night lights. Incandescents produce light by heating a filament until it glows white hot. Ninety percent of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs is lost as heat. These bulbs typically last for 750 to 1,000 hours, or about three hours a day for a year.

The reflective coating on incandescent spotlights and floodlights directs and focuses light. Often used in recessed ceiling fixtures or outdoors, they last about 2,000 hours.

Tungsten-halogen incandescent bulbs or “halogen” bulbs contain a capsule of halogen gas, which emits a bright white light. Halogens produce more light, use less energy, and last longer than incandescents of the same wattage, but they cost more to buy. They last from 2,000 to 3,000 hours, about two to three years.

General service fluorescent bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs because they produce light without heat. They are the long or “U” shaped tubes used in office buildings and stores and last from 10,000 to 20,000 hours, 10 to 20 times longer than incandescents.

Compact fluorescent bulbs use one-fourth the energy of incandescents to provide as much light. If you replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb with a 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb, you will get the same amount of light. They are effective and efficient replacements and last about 10,000 hours, or 10 to 13 times longer than incandescents.

Energy-efficient bulbs cost more to buy than incandescents, but efficiency and longer life offset their higher purchase price.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Appliance Labeling Rule requires packages for light bulbs, including halogen, reflector bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs (small bulbs such as night lights or chandelier bulbs are excepted from the rule). By law, packing must provide:

. Light output, or how much the bulb produces, measured in lumens.

. Energy used, or the total power that a bulb uses, measured in watts.

. Light output and efficiency. Efficiency decreases when consumers use a bulb designed for 125 or 130 volts in a region such as Maine that provides electrical service at 120 volts.

. Information on the average life in hours, or how long the bulb can be used.

When consumers make lighting decisions, they should consider energy efficiency as well as light output, cost, and convenience. Think in lumens instead of watts. Lumens measure light output. A 60-watt incandescent bulb yields 855 lumens, while a 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb yields about 900 lumens.

If a living room table lamp is turned on for 1,000 hours a year and the power company charges 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, and if the owner buys a 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb for $20, rated to last 10 years (10,000 hours), the cost for 10 years is $32.

If a neighbor buys a regular 60-watt incandescent bulb for $1, rated to last about one year (1,000 hours), he will need 10 bulbs, costing a total of $10, to match the expected life of the compact fluorescent bulb, and he will pay $50 for the same time span.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT-Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded, non-profit consumer organization. Individual membership $25, business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.