Responsible Lights

I mentioned that PSE supplied me with five $2 off coupons for CFL light bulbs, so I ran by Home Depot today to pick them up. CFL light bulbs consume far less energy than regular light bulbs (about 23 watts per bulb, depending on how bright you get - my CFL 100 watts are 23 watt bulbs, and I believe the 60 watt ones are as well), and last approxim We'd purchased CFL bulbs before, but the light they gave off was pretty sallow. I'm happy to report that Home Depot has a much larger selection of CFL bulbs. You have "soft light," "bright light" and the awesome "daylight" to choose from. As a test, see if you can tell which lights in the attached graphic are CFL bulbs and which are "normal", wear out in one year, consume 3x the power bulbs. Can't tell? Yeah, me neither.

So even if you're against this whole global warming thing, even if you think it's a bunch of LIE-beral nonsense, look at it this way: you won't have to replace a light bulb for nine years (there's actually a warranty with each bulb), and you're using two-thirds the power, which shows up on your monthly bill.

I'll be the first to admit that CFL bulbs are more expensive than normal bulbs (except the stupid bathroom bulbs in the picture attached, but that's only because our bathroom fixture was installed by idiotic monkeys). But a small investment up front will save you much more over the life of the bulb, and is more environmentally responsible.

Oh, and you home-owning, children-having tax itemizers? It's tax deductible, courtesy of the Bush administration and our Republican congress. Yes, I'll openly admit when the "opposition" does something right. Kudos to Bush and the (formerly) Republican Congress for giving you a break for saving oil/power/the world.

Did I mention it cost me about seventy bucks to switch (almost) every bulb in my house (except the already-efficient LED bulbs in the track lighting in my TV room)? Yeah. Seventy bucks. To use one-third of the power and replace my lights in nine years.

It's not just a matter of saving the planet and all that hippie shit. This is how all that "environmentalism" nonsense is supposed to work: offering cost-effective alternatives so even if you don't believe the "planet needs to be saved laugh out loud," at least it is a smart decision for your pocketboot.

So, uh, what have you done lately?