TARA BATTIATO - HERLIFE Magazine

herlife | green living
Light Bulbs
That Make
a Bright
Difference
by kathleen m. krueger
Do you feel a bit lost when entering the lightbulb aisle to
stock up on bulbs for your home? There are so many
different types and different prices. How do you make the
right choice–one that will save both energy and money–
while still providing you with the proper lighting for each
area of your home?
Understanding the Difference
The main difference between the newer energy-efficient lightbulbs
and the standard incandescent bulbs with the wire filament in them is
heat. The traditional bulbs that have the wire filament use heat to light
up the wire that emits light. Ninety percent of the energy in these traditional
lightbulbs is wasted on creating heat. Although there are energyefficient
bulbs that still use the wire filaments, they only offer a fraction
of the energy savings that other bulbs can provide. New bulbs now use
improved technology to create light without heat, saving energy and
money over the older versions.
Energy-Saving Incandescent Bulbs
The first level of energy-saving bulbs would go to the new generation
incandescent or halogen bulbs. These bulbs still use a filament that
heats up to create light, but they have been upgraded to have a capsule
that surrounds the filament that holds in the gas to increase efficiency.
This leads to less heat or energy needed to create the same amount of
light. These bulbs can save up to 25 percent of the energy costs, and
last up to 3 times longer than their predecessors.
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)
Fluorescent lighting has always been more energy efficient and lasted
longer than incandescent bulbs, but was usually used only in the long,
straight bulbs reminiscent of schools and industrial settings. Incandescent
bulbs were preferred in home settings due to the type of light they emitted,
which is a red light that has a warmer feel, versus a blue light.
Fluorescent lightbulbs use gas inside the tubes to create ultraviolet
light. This light is not visible until it hits the phosphor coating on
the inside of the bulbs. Once the ultraviolet protons interact with the
phosphor coating, it creates visible light. Since this light is not created
using heat like incandescent bulbs, there is much less energy used. The
newer “curly” versions of these bulbs can be used in regular lightbulb
sockets, can save up to 75 percent of the energy costs over traditional
bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer.
Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
LED lights work by sending electricity along the semiconductors that
are within the device. When this happens, an electromagnetic radiation
is created that can take on the form of visible light. This type of lighting
has long been used in traffic lights, computers and cars. Now there are
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