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April 22nd is Earth Day in the United States. In celebration The Home Depot is giving away one million compact fluorescent lightbulbs to people who visit their stores this Sunday. Rumor has it that the free bulbs will be N:Vision soft whites, which were the best in a recent Popular Mechanics lab test.
Electric lighting consumes nearly a quarter of the average home energy budget. Because compact fluorescent bulbs are energy efficient, they cost less to use. In his excellent guide to saving electricity, Michael Bluejay writes:
The easiest way to save electricity is to replace your light bulbs with screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs. They put out light similar to standard bulbs but use 75% less electricity.
Compact fluorescent bulbs also last longer than incandescents. It’s true that they’re more expensive initially (up to $10/bulb), but the typical CF bulb will save you nearly $10/year. How many lightbulbs do you have in your house? How many could you replace with compact fluorescents? How much money would that save you?
Even if The Home Depot only gives you one free bulb, you can purchase several more while you’re there. It’ll save you money in the long run!
To learn more about compact fluorescent bulbs, visit One Billion Bulbs. The Home Depot Eco Options page includes a calculator that demonstrates how much you can save with CFLs — click the red “energy efficient” box at the bottom of the page. See also the incandescent vs. CFL vs. LED light bulb challenge at Product Dose. Finally, Nickel documented his changeover to CFLs — he replaced 107 bulbs!
This article is about House and Home, News, Shopping Thursday, 19th April 2007 (by J.D. Roth)
April 19th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Is it really sad that I totally forgot that my anniversary is Sunday until I read this post? Ooh, maybe I can take the Mr. to Home Depot and get him some compact fluorescent light bulbs as a “gift.” How romantic is THAT?
Thanks for the reminder… and thank goodness Earth Day is on the same day every year.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:56 am
[...] you can visit our local Home Depot and get a free compact-fluorescent lightbulb as part of the company’s recognition of “earth day.” 2. Local booster club Pulse-Great Falls is sponsoring a “Bring [...]
April 19th, 2007 at 10:48 am
As renters, we’ve moved quite a few times in our life. For the past N years, I’d replace whatever light bulbs were within my reach with fluorescent ones from Home Depot.
It *is* a great way to lower your bill. As you mentioned, they are more expensive, but the savings from their efficiency take over in the long run.
For example, apartments love putting four-five 80 Watt (I guess) incandescents light bulbs in bathrooms. Their fluorescent counterparts, taken together, draw less than a single 80 Watt incandescent bulb!
April 19th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I hate the light these horrible bulbs deliver.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I think the CF bulbs are getting better and better at emulating the light of a regular incandescent bulb. Certainly, better than when I first started using them. Now it’s hard for me to tell the difference.
I can’t wait until LEDs come in and replace all these CF bulbs though
April 19th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Initially, I didn’t like that these lights take a little bit to warm up and get to their full brightness. I’ve long since gotten used to that though.
I targeted CF bulbs for the areas of our house that we use A LOT. The kitchen, my office etc. By using a CF bulb in a desk lamp with a tan shade, I’ve found that it puts off a very nice warm glow. I use that almost exclusively in the office now.
By using these lights where we have the lights on the most, we are saving a significant amount of money. I also use these on our outdoor lights since they are on so much.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I think usually people complain about the light from CFL bulbs simply because it’s not what they’re used to. I just bought a house and thought I’d give CFLs a try. I installed one in one of my rooms. And yes, the light is different (at least the kind of bulb I got). But after just a few minutes, I don’t even notice the difference, and then walking into the next room with a normal light bult, that seems weird. My CFL reaches full brightness in just a few seconds. I’m definitely pleased with it.
April 19th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Whenever our bulbs burn out, we replace them with CFL bulbs. We had older CFLs at first and that kinda sucked for hall lights since they took a few seconds to light up and by then you’re in the next room. But the newer models come on pretty instantly. I hate having to stand on a stepladder and change high lights, and with CFLs, I’ll hardly ever have to do it again!
April 19th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Home Depot to Give Away Compact Fluorescent Bulbs this Sunday ? Get Rich Slowly…
Home Depot is giving away free compact fluorescent bulbs this Sunday in honor of Earth Day. You can see for yourself at Home Depot’s website, http://www.homedepot.com. I’m getting me a free bulb!…
April 19th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Last year I switched several of the light bulbs in my apartment with CF bulbs. Rather than saving on my electric bill, I did it to cut down on heat. It made a big difference on my comfort level not having all of the heat that is generated by incandescent bulbs. I would be willing to be it has made a difference on how often I run my air conditioner as well.
April 19th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
If they aren’t daylight balanced, I won’t buy them. I currently have GE Reveals which are enhanced daylight spectrum bulbs. If I’m in a room with “yellow” bulbs too long I feel really depressed. Recently wrote an article about it, Now I can see the light which explains how Kelvin temps work and light sources can influence moods.
April 19th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I’ll definitely vouch for the accuracy of Popular Mechanic’s findings. I went through six different brands of bulbs before my wife and I settled on the N:Vision soft white bulbs. They were far and away the closest to incandescent light in our eyes. In fact, they were the only bulbs we tried that my lovely bride decreed to be acceptable. I’ll definitely be heading to HD this weekend to pick up some bulbs from the remaining incandescents in our home.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
We use CFLs in our house and we can definitely see the difference in our electricity bill. Some of my older bulbs id have the delayed start but my little 3 year old thought it was sooo funny. He doesn’t really care for the new one we installed that don’t have the delayed start.
I look forward to trying the bulbs from HD. Thanks for the heads up.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
In celebration of Earth Day, my company gave CFLs away too all our employees in North America. That’s well over 10,000. I installed mine as soon as I got home. I’m happy with the quality of light produced compared to my older Reveal bulb.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
$10 a bulb!! Crock, I have been using CFLs for a while now, Costco and Sams Club have them for MUCH cheaper, about $2 a bulb, or maybe cheaper.
April 20th, 2007 at 3:42 am
Home Depot giving away compact flourescents…
Not *really* about belly dance, but it reminded me of the tai chi instructor ……
April 20th, 2007 at 4:28 am
Weekly Roundup - 04/20/07…
Here’s a quick look at some of the articles that caught my eye over the past week…
FMF asks if going to grad school is a financial mistake.
JLP talks about teaching high school kids about personal finance.
Flexo broke down his 401(k) stat…
April 20th, 2007 at 6:31 am
[...] Home Depot to Give Away CFLs This Sunday Ever thought about giving CFLs a try, but didn’t want to put out the money? Stop by Home Depot this Sunday; they’re giving each customer a free CFL (while supplies last, so get there early!). (via get rich slowly) [...]
April 20th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Thanks for the tip. We have been switching to CFL’s over the last 5 or so years and they have definitely gotten better. If you need higher wattage, you can buy them on line, also. The rule of thumb is to divide the wattage you use now by 3 to get the CFL equivalent. There is a huge range of light spectrum, BTW. If you hate the light (my husband got really spooked from one I brought home) try a different CFL, don’t give up on the genre.
I barely EVER buy an incandescent bulb anymore. Not even once a year.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:16 am
CFLs need to be disposed of responsibly, since they have mercury. IKEA has a free take-back program - you don’t need to have purchased your bulbs there, though they have a nice selection. When you go to Home Depot, ask what do do with your dead CFL and encourage them to start a similar program! (Of course they only die after about 3-4 years, so by 2010 who knows what all will be going environmentally.)
April 20th, 2007 at 7:56 am
[...] Home Depot Giving Away free CFL - Compact Fluorescent Lights save 65%-75% electricity. Home Depot will giving them away for free on Sunday. Also check out the One Billion Bulbs project. [...]
April 20th, 2007 at 8:07 am
That is the coolest thing I’ve read this week. We’re already stocked up on CFLs though. So…tempted… to stop… by…
We love the light of the CFLs. We only notice one of them that takes a few seconds to warm up. It is worth it to me for the savings for me and the planet.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:36 am
[...] on Sunday Home Depot stores will be giving away compact florescent bulbs. Compact florescents are just as bright and soft as incandescent bulbs, but use 75 percent less [...]
April 21st, 2007 at 1:53 am
I agree with the commenters that mention the color issue.
I trick I use to solve that problem is install CFLs in areas where we have multiple bulbs. A half-half mixture of CFLs vs. incandecent bulbs retains a good color while reducing electric consumption.
In some areas of the house, such as kitchen, office and outdoor lighting, we use CFLs only.
April 21st, 2007 at 11:25 am
[...] April 21, 2007 · Filed under budget, green, frugal living, Wisconsin, money On Earth Day, tomorrow, Home Depot is giving away 1 million free CFL Light Bulbs. Learn more about it here. I talked to our Home Depot store, and every store got 2 boxes, but he made it sound like that wasn’t very many, and stores open at 6am. And I haven’t figured out if you need to buy something while you’re there to get them, or if they give em away for free to everyone who walks in the door, but I would get their early to get yours. And they’re not just giving away off-brand ones, rumor has it they’re giving away the #1 tested CFL Light Bulb by Popular Mechanic (courtesy of GetRichSlowly). [...]
April 21st, 2007 at 12:55 pm
[...] Posted by mrclm on April 21st, 2007 From Get Rich Slowly: [...]
April 21st, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Home Depot is giving away lightbulbs 4/22!!…
…
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:01 am
[...] that compact fluorescent photo I used earlier in the week? That image was made by David Hobby, the author of Strobist. He [...]
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:27 am
I’ve heard that the life expectancy of these bulbs is very low when they are turned on/off frequently.
Does anyone have any experience or information on this?
And they’re expensive, and you can’t just put them out with the trash…
With all this, and the color complaints, maybe this tech is still too young…