Pat on the back, I already do that....light bulbs.

This is a post that I'm going to start doing as a reminder to myself of what I'm already doing to be green, and to give some information on why I'm doing what I'm doing.

So today, its the energy saving light bulbs.  Ok, this one is slightly null and void seeing as, as of September last year all non-energy saving light bulbs were removed from all shop shelves in the UK, but I have been using energy saving light bulbs for the last 10 years so I'm going to add this as its my first one.

So what's the problem with the old style bulbs.  Mainly that they were completely energy inefficient, with 90% of the energy going towards heats and only 10% going towards light.  They also didn't last very long and I found I had to change a bulb per fitting every 12 to 18 months.  In contract, energy saving bulbs do, on average, use 80% less electricity and can last up to 10 times longer than what used to be the traditional light bulbs, and, when 30% of the electricity we use in Great Britain goes towards lighting, this makes a huge difference to our general carbon dioxide production.  Of course, there may be a bit of a grumble about having to spend £1.99 for the cheapest energy saving light bulb rather than 40p for the golden oldies, the money saved on energy bills can range from £10 to £30 a year (making it worth the extra £1.59, especially as you'll have to buy less of them over the years), and I've noticed that I haven't had to buy any new light bulbs since I brought them all after moving in on my own 3 years ago (apart from one that fell to the floor due to a bad light fitting).  Another big issue people have with these bulbs is the fact that they seems to take much longer to come to light, especially when the surround area is cold.  Thankfully, the latest generation of energy saving light bulbs have greatly reduced the amount of time it takes for them to become fully lit.  But I also find that you do get used to the dim start.  In fact, I now find the sudden light from old bulb feels a bit uncomfortable to me, especially first thing in the morning........there's really no need for that.

The lights that I've been talking about in this blog are the ones usually most available to you and are actually known as the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), but there are other options available to save energy when turning on the light. 

• The first is one we all know and probably don't love from the office, the normal fluorescent tubes.  Long and slim they work on the same principle as the CFL, funnily enough, and produce a good amount of energy, but are generally only four to six more times energy efficient then the old bulbs though they do last much longer.  I really don't like the light that comes off these tubes, but they do make great lighting for kitchen and is the only place I have this light in my home.
• The next type is one that I think is the most interesting and has the most potential and that's light emitting diode (better known as LEDs).  On the whole, they are more effecient than CFL, last longer (up to 20 years!), can be dimmed to different light intensities, and reach full lighting almost straight away.  They're also tiny.  The big problem is that the light given off by LEDs isn't great for general indoor use and is beaten by the CFL hands down.  But work is still being done on LEDs and I definitely think they'll be part of our future lighting.

A little health warning though.  CFL bulbs contain mercury and so, if they do break, they release this chemical. The general advise is to open the windows for around 1\2 hours after you notice the break, where rubber gloves while collecting the broken bulb, pick up the bits using kitchen roll (brushing etc can cause any chemicals lurking around to be lifting into the air for you to breath in), place in a bag and close tightly.  It's usually better to throw the remains away in the special bin provided at council dump sites rather than just in your bin. 
While LED lights are usually seen as been relatively 'clean' they have been found to contain trace amounts of lead, arsenic and lead, and so, need to be handled with just as much care as CFL bulb.
However, if you're thinking that means that the good old incandescent bulbs where much better, they did contain lead levels which where shown to exceed hazardous waste limits.  However we light our home, there are some chemicals that have to be put in these bulbs.