Question: How do you get a nation in which 90% of light bulb sockets still contain incandescent bulbs to switch to CFLs?
Answer: You give them away for FREE.
Many utilities across the country have programs in which they give away a small amount of CFLs and some have rebate and discount programs established with CFL retailers to make it more affordable for households to Switch The Bulb. Utilities cannot afford to replace every socket with CFLs and retailers can only give up so much on price before they start to lose money. So what’s the solution? How can we give households FREE CFLs?
The SwitchTheBulb.com Initiative program assists utilities with providing gift cards to consumers that can be used to purchase CFLs from qualified distributors. The payments for the CFLs are added to the consumers’ utility bills over a period of about 6 months. The payments can be completely offset by lower utility bills from using CFLs during the 6 month period resulting in FREE CFLs.
Some may argue that they aren’t really free because the consumer still has the payments added to their utility bill. Semantics. The bottom line is that, in most cases, there’s essentially no out of pocket cost for the consumer if they install the CFLs timely. After the payback period, the consumer sees the real savings. Savings from switching to CFLs can be the equivalent of 2 utility bills each year.
People are looking for ways to save money. Using CFL bulbs reduces pollution. This program helps consumers save money and reduce pollution. Click here to participate in the SwitchTheBulb.com Initiative.
Nothing irritates me more than information that is provided with no frame of reference to put it into context. In other words, if someone tells you that you can install a certain light bulb that can save you a lot of money and significantly reduce pollution, but it contains a toxic element(mercury), what’s a consumer to do?
What is the “safe” amount of mercury that a consumer will allow in their home? There is currently an average of 3 to 5 mg of mercury in CFLs. A common watch battery contains up to 25 mg of mercury. The old thermometers used to contained up to 500 mg. Okay, so that tells me that watch batteries contain up to 5 times the amount of mercury in a CFL and thermometers contained up to 100 times the amount of mercury in a CFL! Whewww. What a relief! Not really. I still don’t know what I’m dealing with here.
This is why a frame of reference is needed. How much mercury is bad? Will my head implode if I’m in the same room where a CFL breaks? Will there be long-term consequences? I recently came across the best article to date on this issue. Many of you know that there are trace amounts of mercury in fish, in part from the pollution emitted by coal-fired power plants. Apparently, if a CFL bulb breaks and you open windows, clean up and remove debris, your mercury exposure would be the equivalent of taking a tiny nibble of tuna. Assume the worst case scenario with all doors closed and the bulb being smashed with a hammer and it would be the equivalent of eating one can of tuna. (Click here for the article)
Now, I don’t know about you, but I like the occasional tuna fish sandwich. I know there’s some mercury in there, but I eat it anyways and I’ll continue to eat it. Mixed with mayo and relish on toasted bread. You’re getting hungry, aren’t you? I’d like to be able to eat mercury-free tuna, but that is not realistic with the current levels of pollution out there. So, let’s reduce pollution by using CFLs.
CFLs contain a small amount of mercury (about 3 to 5 mg per bulb). I won’t bore you with the science, but it’s a necessary component. Some have expressed their concern that if we start selling a ton of these things, there will be massive amounts of mercury released into the environment from people who do not dispose of them properly. What many do not realize is that there is mercury released into the air from coal-fired plants every day when we use electricity to power incandescent bulbs.
The amount of mercury released from coal-fired plants from using CFLs over their lifetime is about 2.4mg. The amount included in the CFL itself is about 4mg. The amount of mercury released into the air from coal-fired plants from using incandescent over the same period is 10 mg! Even if everyone switched to CFLs and then decided to smash EVERY SINGLE CFL into our parks, rivers and oceans, it would still result in LESS mercury being released into the environment than incandescents.
There is going to be some percentage of CFLs that are not disposed of properly. However, I think I’ve made it pretty clear that the continued use of incandescents will release a much higher amount of mercury into our environment than switching to CFLs.
There’s a lot of numbers thrown about regarding the savings that CFLs provide, but let me “bottom line” it for you. According to standard assumptions used in the energystar.gov savings calculator, the return on investment can be a staggering 1920% over the lifetime of the bulbs and it’s tax free! Compare that to your 401k (sorry… sensitive subject).
This is almost 20 times the initial investment. It’s what investors would call a “20-bagger”. There aren’t many of those and this one is staring you right in the face. The only down side is that the investment is limited to the amount of light bulbs in your home. No worries. The next time you’re trying to come up with a gift for someone, send them a gift certificate they can use to purchase CFLs along with a note explaining that it’s worth 20 times the amount of the gift certificate. And… oh yeah. It’s good for the environment too.
You may have heard of T. Boone Pickens, a man who made billions from oil but is now crusading to end our dependence on foreign oil. He’s trying to advance wind and solar initiatives as well as introduce natural gas as the replacement for oil. He admits that natural gas is not a permanent solution, but is a necessary transition step towards renewable energy. I support him 100%.
Even if you don’t care about the environmental impact, you should consider national security. Earlier this year, it was reported that there were discussions in Iran about using oil as an economic weapon against the United States. Iran is OPEC’s No. 2 oil producer.
Here is the quote:
“Using Islamic states’ political and economic capabilities … such as the energy tool, the oil and gas weapon, and forming a broad will to shut the Zionist regime’s embassies are among actions that can show off the power of the Islamic world’s unity to heads of global infidels and apostates.”
I am really getting tired of being called an infidel. This is a very real and scary scenario. They have the ability to shut us down and my guess is that they will try to use that ability in the near future. But here’s the best part. Iran has increased production of cars that use natural gas by 20 times in the last couple of years! We’re forking over billions of dollars to a country that would prefer we didn’t exist. They’re more ahead of the curve on natural gas than we are. This has to be very amusing to them.
We need to move on natural gas vehicles and/or natural gas hybrid vehicles. Please visit PickensPlan.com, but more imporantly, please register. Thank you.
Click here for the entire Oil as a weapon article.
When CFL’s first came to market, there was some disappointment over the quality of the light. They were either not bright enough or the light was too yellow. Also, some of the CFL’s wouldn’t even fit into some of the standard sockets. Terrible planning.
The manufacturers have responded to those concerns over the years and have come a long way, but what is shocking is that a recent study by Popular Mechanics has found that consumers actually prefer the CFL lighting over the incandescent lighting! Check out the study at PopularMechanics.com.
I’ve been following the progress of a company called Aptera for the last few years. I remember coming across the design of the prototype and reading about the philosophy behind its creation. I put the prototype picture on my desktop background. Definitely a conversation piece. They’ve come a long way and have attracted a lot of interest. It’s a 3-wheel hybrid that looks like something out of a sci fi movie because of its aerodynamic design. Most cars take aerodynamics into account, but this one takes it to a whole new level.
Fossil fuels are on their way out. This is a step in the right direction. Check out Aptera.com.
Solar energy. Sunlight is free. It’s clean. It’s abundant. Utility rates will continue to rise. Why aren’t we all using solar?
There is a pretty daunting up-front cost to most systems. Eliminate this hurdle along with making payments for the system comparable or better than current utility bills and you will see a landslide of solar installations. The City of Palm Desert California has stepped up to the plate to make solar installation more realistic for the masses. Assembly Bill 811 enables residents to finance solar installations with low interest loans that can be repaid in up to 20 years which are added to property taxes. Fantastic idea. No separate bill. Just added to the property taxes to make it almost transparent.
Think of how much utility bills will increase in the next 20 years. It’s not like fossil fuels will become more abundant and cheaper. Financing a solar system locks in a fixed payment. Excess energy not used can be sold back to utilities in most locations. Under the program, if a homeowner sells a home, the buyer can assume the payments. This, of course, adds value to your home.
I am confident that we will see many more programs like this begin to spring up all over the country. Brilliant.
I created the SwitchTheBulb.com site to provide consumers with the latest information on the best deals on next generation lighting. The message is simple. You save money and you reduce pollution. That’s it. You could reduce your annual utility expense by two monthly bills by switching to CFL’s. If your utility company called you up one day and said that they would eliminate two of your monthly utility bills each year if you switched to CFL’s, would you do it? Of course you would. Depending on how many light bulbs you switch, you could also reduce pollution by the equivalent of two cars for one year.
This is low hanging fruit. If you’ve already switched, then tell people who have not to go to SwitchTheBulb.com. Some of the utility companies that are listed have deals with retailers to provide discounts on the purchase of CFL’s. If your utility company does not have a program, please check out the promotions being offered by the retailers.
