Green Options

An article in the March 28 New York Times contained some pretty unflattering remarks about compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Since the bulbs were never given a chance to speak in their own defense, I guess it’s up to us fluorescent bulb-huggers to speak for them.  So, here goes.

Do you like the environmental friendliness of CFL bulbs but also enjoy the shape of incandescent bulbs? GE has a solution — the world’s first incandescent-shaped CFL bulb. The 8,000-hour CFL is guaranteed for 5 years based on 4 hours of daily use.

Residential Lighting reports that a new energy-efficient lighting technology, dubbed ESL (electron-stimulated luminescence) was patented in June by a startup company called Vu1.

The technology works by using accelerated electrons to stimulate a phosphor coating on the inside of the glass bulb. In contrast, incandescent bulbs run a current through a filament inside the bulbs, and LEDs stimulate semiconductors to create light.

The first ESL prototype is expected to output 40 lumens per watt with a 6,000 hour lifetime.

So why is the ESL bulb any better than CFLs or LEDs?

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use 75 percent less electricity than incandescent light bulbs for the same amount of light. (For why, see Bill’s post “Why Switch to Compact Fluorescents“.) But some people fear CFLs because of the tiny amount of mercury they contain. The risk from a broken CFL is extremely small, but CFLs should be disposed of properly so landfills aren’t polluted. Sealing used bulbs [...]

Have you heard this one before? "A light bulb walks into a bar…" Wait, that's not right. Let's try it again, "What's bright and light and white all over?" Okay, we're not the best joke tellers in the world, but we do know the punchline: CFL.

Switching over to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) is one of those solutions that is so simple and so effective, we all just need to do it. Says

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