Lighting

Why is lighting important?

The lighting in your home provides a great opportunity to reduce your electric bill because it is both a significant user of electricity, and improvements are comparatively inexpensive and easy to tackle. Lighting is the fourth largest user of electricity in homes in the U.S., following space heating, space cooling, and water heating.

Since much of the electricity in the grid comes from fossil fuel power plants, reducing your electricity use also contributes to reducing carbon emissions, and is a step in the path towards a net zero home.

different types of lighting

The most common types of lightbulbs are incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs, and LED bulbs. These three lightbulbs use varying amounts of energy to produce equal amounts of light.

Three common light bulb types: incandescent, compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), and LED (light-emitting diode).

  • In incandescent bulbs, an electric current passes through a tungsten filament within the bulb which produces light once it reaches approximately 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s very hot!). This bulb is inefficient because only 10% of the energy it uses is converted to light, and the rest is lost as heat.

  • Light is produced in a Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulb when an electric current goes through a tube with argon and mercury, which results in phosphor which emits light. The small amount of mercury in the bulb presents a disposal challenge, as they need to be handled separately from regular trash.

  • In LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs, when the electric current goes through a microchip, it causes the diodes to produce visual light.

We recommend LED light bulbs because they are more efficient, durable, long-lasting, and offer better or comparable lighting quality. LED light bulbs can cost as little as a dollar per bulb, last much longer (up to 25 times longer than an incandescent bulb) and use much less energy than an incandescent bulb.

TRY THIS in the PowerHouse: turn the handcrank and flip the switch on the various types of bulbs. Can you feel how much more energy is required to light the incandescent bulb compared to the others?

A study conducted by the Department of Energy in 2010 found that, on average, households that switched from incandescent light bulbs to LED light bulbs would save 2,187 kWh per year. Using electricity rates common in our region, this would save them $241 annually.

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Lighting Color

One common complaint about CFLs and then LEDs was that they only came in limited colors. This is no longer the case. LEDs come in a full spectrum of colors. The color of lighting is measured on the Kelvin (K) temperature scale, with lower numbers representing warmer, yellower colors, and higher numbers representing a whiter or bluer light.

  • Most bulbs match the color of incandescent bulbs at around 2200-3000K

  • For a whiter light, look for bulbs marked 3500-4100K

  • For bluer white light, look for bulbs that are 5000-6500K.

From EnergyStar.gov

From EnergyStar.gov

Lighting Brightness

Lighting brightness is measured in “lumens”. In the past, we generally measured brightness by how much energy the bulb used (in watts, e.g. a 60-watt bulb), but it makes more sense to actually measure brightness. Lightbulbs now come in packaging that lists the lumens, as well as color (temperature), lifespan, and estimated yearly cost. See the image below for an example of the “Lighting Facts” label, along with a chart that lists the equivalent brightness in lumens for typical traditional incandescent bulbs:

DOE Lumens graphic.png

Learn more about lighting and brightness at this Energy.gov site.

other Lighting considerations

Where can I purchase LED light bulbs?

LED lights can be purchased at most home improvement stores and are screwed into lamps and other light fixtures just like other bulbs. NYSEG has an online marketplace that can help you find and compare available lightbulbs.

To make sure you are getting quality, efficient bulbs, look for the Energy Star® label.

I have CFL bulbs. Should I still use them?

While we do recommend replacing incandescent bulbs immediately since they are such energy wasters, with CFLs we suggest using them until they die and replacing them with LEDs.

How do I dispose of light bulbs?

LEDs and incandescent bulbs can be placed directly in the trash. If you are replacing CFL bulbs, however, these bulbs cannot be disposed of in the trash because they contain mercury, and are therefore classified as household hazardous waste. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends using search.earth911.com to find facilities that accept burnt-out CFLs for recycling near you. Many municipalities host household hazardous waste disposal events, and all Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in the United States recycle CFLs.