[gg3]

I have a gas water heater.

A few years ago I found that whilst working at my desk I could keep the house heat (gas) down to a minimum level and provide a small spot of acceptable warmth at my desk by using a reflectorized "heat lamp" rather than a portable electric heater. That is, 60 watts rather than 1,000.

[BabyPeanut]

Maybe in the winter incandescants are more efficient?

Do your lightbulbs just heat the ceiling? I think a space heater would do better if the heat came out at the floor level.

I think going after energy savings in this way is a much lower priority than a lot of other things you could be doing.

[EnviroEngr]

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LED Article in Plant Services

[bruin]

How much does it cost to leave a 100W light bulb on all month long?

From there one could figure in the real hours per month it is on or a lesser wattage bulb.

We have a ton of lights on in the house all day long and I'm trying to convice the family members to shut them off.

[Madpaddy]

100w x 24 x 30 / 1000 = 72 kwh per month x approx 12c per kwh = $8.64 per bulb per month.

Switching to a cfl (compact fluorescent) should cut this to $1.80 per month and the bulb will also have a longer lifespan.

[Andy]

In one day, that one 100W bulb will burn 2.4 KWHrs, hence burning 72 KWhrs per 30 day month. Assuming electricity at 8c per KWHr, that is nearly $6 per month for one lousy bulb. If you have 10 bulbs running like that, that is nearly $60.

[Kingcoal]

Why not just charge your familly for the electricity? I get sick and tired of turning lights off myself.

[aahala]

In the last six months, I replaced all my old light bulbs to CFLs.

Midway in the process, I discovered two major US home improvement chains in my area selling 60-w CFLs <$2. Homedepot, 6 for $10 has been continiously and Lowes 3 for $6 more or less off and on during this period.

[BabyPeanut]

Why not just charge your familly for the electricity? I get sick and tired of turning lights off myself.

Install coin-op switches.

[bruin]

I've thought of those motion senser deals where it turns off without any activity after awhile.

Thanks for the math!

[MikeB]

We can testify to the saving of switching to CFLs. We started replacing them over the summer. Every time we'd get a paycheck we'd replace a few bulbs. Last January of 2004 we used 455 KWHrs. That dropped to 243 last month, January of 2005. There have been no other changes in our usage. A phenomenal change.

[pip]

How much electricity do the long tube flourescents type lights use? Are they as efficient as these CFL's?

[bruin]

All that maters is how many watts it is rated at. So if your flourescents burn 100W it will cost the same as a 100W incand. bulb.

However, you can get away with less wattage on flourescents.

[lotrfan55345]

Using CFL, its like 1w=90 lumens. Incandescent is 1w = 10lumens

[Madpaddy]

8c per kwh. Fuck me it's about 14c throughout Europe per kwh. You guys are in for some huge culture shocks very very soon !!!!!

[MikeB]

edit

[oowolf]

Don't forget to factor-in the entropic cost of manufacturing/distributing both the bulb and the electricity and the end fate of the burnt-out bulb's raw material, and the entropic cost of your labor to aquire the bulb, etc, etc,....

[BabyPeanut]

How much electricity do the long tube flourescents type lights use? Are they as efficient as these CFL's?

I think they are more efficient actually. Compact fluorescent lamps are a compromise between efficiency and quality.

[BabyPeanut]

it's about 14c throughout Europe per kwh.

How much of that is tax?

My Jan 13, 2005 bill is for 629 kWh (last year same month was 981 kWh)
Generation charges $32.90 (629 * 0.05231)
No tax on generation

Transmission charges $2.76 (629 * 0.00438)
Tax on transmission $0.06 (2.0408%)

Distribution charges $12.28 (629 * 0.01953)
Customer charge $5.54
Taxes:
Franchise (Delivery) Tax $0.39 (629 * 0.00062)
Universal Service Charge $0.37 (no explanation)
State Environmental Surchage $0.10 (629 * 0.00015)
Gross Receipts Tax $0.38 (2.0408%)
County Energy Tax $3.05 (629 * 0.0048549)
Administrative Credit $0.94 (this is not a bill but a credit (629 * 0.001502)

$47.94 (Generation + Transmission + Distribution) is roughly $0.076 a kWh
$8.95 (wacky shit) is roughly $0.014 a kWh
$56.89 total is roughly 9 cents a kWh

[mgibbons19]

That's great someone did the math. I swapped out a bunch of regular yellow bulbs for screw in flourescents. My wife did not like the light quality, so now most of our chandeliers have a mix of the two. It is a wierd light. But at 8 bucks a month, I can dig it.

They also don't burn out so quickly in an old house. Incandescents seemed like they were toasting right and left.