COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS - GREEN LIVING

Green Farm Living

A couple of the bulbs at the farm (in closets) needed to be replaced.  These are the old school kind of lights with pull chains.  One reason is we needed something brighter since it was in a closet, and another reason is the bulbs are a bit closer to the wall than we'd feel comfortable with and so we were wanting something that doesn't get as hot as a regular bulb.

When I was shopping for bulbs, I remembered that we wanted to make sure we try to live as green as we can in this farmhouse. So for the first time ever, I bought compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Compact Fluorescent Bulb

They are more expensive than a regular bulb of course, but according to the package, they will last several times longer than a standard incandescent bulb (in some cases up to TEN times longer).  They also burn cooler, which of course was important for the closets, and they use less electricity.


When you are shopping for bulbs, they will show the "lumens" on the package.  This is the amount of light that a bulb puts out.  What you want to look at is see how much light the regular bulb puts out, and then compare to the compact fluorescent.  They don't match up "watt for watt".  For example, a 75 watt regular bulb is not the same wattage in one of these.  I bought a 4 pack, which seemed a better deal than buying them individually.  For now I put them in the three closets and one in the bathroom.  On first glance, they are bright, have a nice white color, and best of all, don't get hot.


The official EnergyStar website has lots of information about the bulbs and links to other websites.  You can visit it HERE.


Since we are finishing a house from scratch, we want to use green alternatives when we can.  We'll use these bulbs throughout the house wherever we can, in lamps and light fixtures, etc.  I'll report in after awhile of using them and let you know how we like them in regular everyday use.