A Little Short on Cash?

This article is the first in a list of practical things you can do to save money on your monthly electric bill. Get some new green products, and maybe use the extra money to pay for a little vacation.

Throw out all the incandescent bulbs

A Compact Fluorescent Lamp (or CFL) is a small circular fluorescent light bulb used to replace incandescent bulbs. They typically take the same amount of space as an old incandescent bulb, and screw right into the same socket.

A CFL does not generate light the way an incandescent bulbs does. Incandescent light bulbs have worked essentially the same way since Thomas Edison invented them. When electricity is connected to both sides of a carbon filament, it gets hot and produces light. In CFLs (as with the older fluorescent tubes), a closed glass tube is coated with a fluorescent coating that glows when a current is applied to the argon and mercury vapor inside.

The CFL is one of a few green products to help you to stop wasting your money on incandescent bulbs. Even if an incandescent bulb costs less than a $1 at the local store, it will still cost you much more to run it. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with one of the new Energy Star compliant CFLs will save you around $30 a year and last 10 times longer. So let’s see one incandescent bulb every 3 months (4 per year x 2 years = $8) vs. a $6.95 bulb whose life averages 2 years, Hum

CFLs have been out several years now. Along with the bulb style, you can now choose the shade of white light you like. This can really enhance the mood of a room, home office or family room. The CFL colors vary from a warm yellow to daylight blue. If you prefer the look (color) of incandescent bulbs, choose a warm light.

The bluish CFLs may have a negative effect on light sensitive people. If friends or family are light sensitive, a warmer color CFL might be better.

Look on the package for a number that ends in K. This stands for Kelvin or the “temperature” of the bulb. A Kelvin rating of 2700K-3000K is a warm/yellow bulb. A Cool White bulb has a rating of 3500K-4100K. A rating of 5000K-6500K is a Daylight blue bulb.

When you are replacing a 40 watt bulb, use a 9-13 watt CFL; for a 60 watt use a 13-15 watt; for a 75 watt use an 18-25 watt CFL, and for a 100 watt use a 23-30 watt CFL.

Please do not forget to recycle all compact fluorescent bulbs. In some states, the law forbids the disposal of any bulbs containing mercury in the regular solid waste trash. There are about five milligrams of mercury in one CFL bulb, or about 1/5 the of mercury found in a normal wrist-watch battery.

Many retailers in your area like ACE Hardware, Home Depot and Orchard have recycling programs that will accept your used CFL green products.

A host of new green products for outdoors, poolside, garden, and sidewalk lighting are moving to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The new LED bulbs are 90% more efficient than an incandescent bulb. I would recommend using an Energy Star compliant system; you will usually have a longer time between bulb replacements. However, stock up on replacement bulbs – the manufacturers seem to change the design every couple of years, and then it becomes hard to find replacement parts.

Next time will look at some more green products that can further reduce your carbon footprint and save you still more money.

Michael

How to Fund Alternative Energy Systems for Your Home or Business

In this edition of Green Products, let’s turn to financing. Many people are going through some hard times and some not so hard. You still want to go green in every way you can, but affording it right now may not be as easy as before. After taking a hard look at this challenge, here are some thoughts:

The first place to look for incentives is the manufacture. They are a business, and they are influenced by the economic downturn just like everyone else. They need to turn inventory to stay in business and that is why some are offering price reductions and rebates on green products.

The next incentive to look at is the one that began on February 17, 2009 when President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Re-investment Act of 2009. This new law set aside money in the form of tax credits to offset the cost of installing alternative energy systems and green products.

With this new law in effect you can realize a 30% tax credit when you install an alternative energy source in your home or business. If you own a small business, you also have an option to get cash in the form of cash grants instead of the tax credit.

Third – what about your energy cost savings? Spending money on green products during this time may make more sense than you think. With businesses willing to negotiate, tax credits and a reduction in your energy costs, you are putting money in the bank over the long haul. If you plan well, your investment could pay for itself in months, not years.

Finally, many states have a variety ofl incentives in place, including tax credits, rebates, and even buy-back or cash reimbursements when you have negative energy usage (that is, you produced more energy than you consumed, and have added power to the state’s power grid).

We all win by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, reducing emissions, reducing your carbon footprint and a reducing your environmental impact. A final upside is you help keep contractors working, businesses producing green products and reduce the loss of jobs.

Michael