FLUORESCENTS’ BRIGHT FUTURE

Are you tired of replacing burned-out light bulbs? Would you like to cut back your electric bill? Would you like to do a bit to combat global warming?

If so, the new compact fluorescent bulbs may be your answer. They last up to ten times as long. They use less than one-third as much electricity as incandescent bulbs for a given brightness. And the federal government says you would save more than $60 as year and take more than 1 trillion tons a year of greenhouse gases out of the air if you substituted fluorescent bulbs in the five most-used fixtures in your home.

So what’s the catch? Actually none, except that they cost quite a lot more. But the prices keep falling, and Maine’s Public Utilities Commission encourages the shift by giving you an instant rebate of $1.50 in most stores. The PUC’s Efficiency Maine program helped sell close to 1 million fluorescent bulbs last year, and sales keep increasing.

Some consumers think of fluorescent light as the harsh, bluish, sometimes blinking illumination in gyms and factories. That has changed, with warmer color and steady service. Some object to the curly-cue look of some of the new fluorescents, but many of the twisted tubes are now concealed in conventional-looking bulbs. True, some light fixtures won’t accommodate the slightly bulkier fluorescents. And they do contain mercury and must be disposed of carefully. But incandescent bulbs put even more mercury into the atmosphere because of the coal-fired generators that produce the electricity they use.

A big boost has come from Wal-Mart, which has an interest in buffing up its troubled public relations. Wal-Mart is making a major push and plans to sell each of its 100 million regular customers one compact fluorescent bulb this year. It has greatly expanded shelf space for those bulbs and now keeps them at eye level instead of down where you have to stoop to see them. The company hopes singlehandedly to double U.S. sales for the compact fluorescents in a year.

The federal government’s Energy Star project advises consumers to replace bulbs where the lights are on the most, such as family rooms, living rooms, kitchen, dining room and porch. It suggests checking the lumen rating of the old bulb and matching it with the replacement, so as to get the same amount of light.

One more hint, if you start replacing incandescent with compact fluorescents: Don’t forget to pick up the PUC form and submit it to a clerk for the $1.50 instant rebate.