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Community Corner

How to Save Money with CFLs (And How to Recycle Them in Westford)

Compact fluorescent light bulbs can save you money for years to come.

Energy efficiency is a hot topic.

One simple step to be more efficient -- and save money -- is to swap all your all your traditional incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

The cost of CFLs has come down quite a bit in recent years (now about $5 a pop), making them an affordable choice. On the other hand, LEDs are quite pricey, at roughly $40 per bulb. For this reason, LEDs may not be a viable option at the moment. 

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The Savings

To estimate the savings of a CFL vs. an incandescent, let’s use the example of a 60-watt bulb on for eight hours everyday. I am also assuming a price of $0.136 per kilowatt hour, which is according to my latest National Grid electric bill.

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Incandescent:

                 60W x (365 days x 8 hours) = 175 kWh x $0.136/kWh  => $23.83

                Plus the initial price of bulb = $ 0.50

Total Price For One Year = $24.33

CFL:

The CFL can deliver the same amount of light using only 13 watts.

                 13W x (365 days x 8 hours) = 37.96 kWh  x $0.136/kWh =>  $5.16  

                 Plus the initial price = $5 

Total Price For One Year  = $10.16

Even with the higher initial cost, the CFL will save you $14.17 in its first year. The savings don’t end there. This bulb will last 8 times longer than the incandescent.  Over the life of this single bulb, you will save $50 and the time to replace that incandescent 8 times.

When a CFL does burn out, you need to dispose of it properly. Westford , MacKay’s Hardware and Home Depot will all accept your CFLs for proper disposal.

If you are not convinced about CFLs yet, you still have about a year before the government phases out incandescents. CFLs really have come a long way since they were first introduced. They come on instantly and produce a nice light.

For more energy saving tips, visit http://www.masssave.com. This program, sponsored by the Massachusetts’ gas and electric utilities, provides free home energy assessments to eligible home owners. They also include free CFLs to replace any incandescents. I received about 10 free CFLs through this program.

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