Green Energy News | November 4, 1996

November 4, 1996 – Vol.1 No.32

ENERGIES... week of November 4, 1996

FREE LIGHTING ANALYSIS SOFTWARE. With the help of freeware offered as part of the “Back to School” educational program everyone can check the energy efficiency of the lighting in their homes, schools, or businesses. The program is a joint project of the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Lighting Alliance to encourage people to save energy by changing some of their inefficient incandescent bulbs to more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL).

By counting bulbs and wattage the software should prove that CFL’s will save energy and money despite the high cost of the new bulbs. A CFL uses 25% of the energy of an incandescent bulb emitting the same amount of light. By some estimates there are some 3 billion incandescent bulbs in the U.S. that could be changed to CFL's. If two thirds of U.S homeowners changed a few incandescent bulbs to CFL’s, enough electricity could be saved to power all the homes in New Jersey for a year.

Consumers with Internet access can download the freeware or pick up a copy at participating Home Depot stores. Willing consumers can send in a copy of their energy analysis to an independent research firm for national tabulation. Results are to be announced on Thomas Edison’s 150th birthday, February 11,1997.

OLD HABITS DIE HARD Consumers have been buying bulbs according to wattage for years, but they also should be concerned with lumens, a measure of light illumination. A lumen is the metric equivalent of a footcandle. Listed wattage on a bulb is, of course, the amount of electricity used by that bulb. Both wattage and lumens, along with cost and life expectancy, should be taken into consideration when buying light bulbs. However, its safe to say that most people buy on price and wattage alone. The “Back to School” software is an attempt to make us better consumers, at least when it comes to light bulbs.