So after being inspired to reduce my energy usage, I took a look at buying Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) for my apartment.

CFLs are recently becoming popular in home lighting, and can provide substantial energy savings over their lifetime. They can replace almost all of your existing light bulbs in your house.

CFLs:

• Use 2/3 the energy of normal bulbs
• Last up to 10 times longer
• Generate up to 70% less heat

They do come at a higher initial cost. However, as I was shopping for CFLs at Home Depot, I noticed coupons from Puget Sound Energy for $2 off (small) and $3 off (large) per bulb, limit of 8 of each size. That saved me (8 * $2 + 8 * $3) = $40 in bulbs, so I retrofitted my entire apartment, 16 bulbs for $32!

After replacing all of the bulbs in my apartment, I am quite happy. Their lighting output is the same (to the naked eye) as the old bulbs. The energy savings are substantial. Before and after wattages (verified with the Kill-A-Watt):

• 1x floor lamp - 140W before, 21W with CFLs
• 1x night stand lamp - 90W before, 14W with CFLs (60W equivalent)
• 3x bathroom mirror lights - 60W before, 14W with CFLs
• 4x dome lights - 60W before, 14W with CFLs
• 6x track lights - 60W before, 14W with CFLs
• Total: 1010W before, 217W with CFLs

PSE charges me about $0.06841 per kWh. (not that I do), but if I ran all of these lights 24/7, I would be spending (1010W * 24 h * 30 days * 0.06841) = $49.73 / mo. With CFLs, this is reduced to (216 W * 24 h * 30 days * 0.06841) = $10.63 / mo. So while that isn't realistic, as I don't have all my lights on all of the time, I'm probably saving a few dollars a month.

Cool stuff!