A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) costs a bit more than a conventional bulb, between $2 and $4 in Carolina stores. But you will save money over the long run. On average, replacing a single conventional bulb with a CFL will save $30 in electricity over the life of the bulb.
Today's CFL is small enough to use in table lamps, ceiling-mounted fixtures and ceiling fans. CFLs are available in a variety of u-shaped and circular styles, as well as spirals, many of them designed to look identical to standard bulbs, and work in more fixtures than before. You can even get them for dimmers or three-way bulbs. All CFLs are best in settings where the light is not turned off and on often.
Look for a chart like this in your store, to help you choose the best CFL for a specific fixture. And check the bulb packaging for the exchange rate. For example, you could replace a 40W incandescent bulb with a 9W CFL to get the same amount of light.CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury within the glass tubing, about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. Older thermometers contained about 100 times as much. No mercury is released when the bulb is intact or in use. Always screw and unscrew the bulb by its base, not by the glass. The Environmental Protection Agency provides clean-up guidelines, in case a CFL bulb breaks in your home.
Used CFL bulbs should be recycled or disposed of properly. Find your closest recycling or disposal facility at these NC locations or SC locations. To dispose of a used or broken CFL bulb in your regular garbage collection, seal it in 2 plastic bags and put it into the trash container.
You won't have to replace them very often. CFLs last at least 3 years, many up to 9 years. If every home replaced one standard light bulb with a CFL, we would save more than $600 million per year in energy costs. That's a lot of savings!
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