Energy Efficient Lighting
For the House
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Most households will use a combination of different lights with the most common being the standard incandescent bulbs. These use electricity to heat a strip of tungsten until it is white hot hence producing light. This is very inefficient with most of the energy lost to heat.
New technology in either CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), LED’s (Light Emitting Diode) or more energy efficient incandescent lights uses much less energy to produce the same (or comparable) level of lighting.
HOW MUCH POWER CAN I SAVE?
Switching just one old-style incandescent light globe to a CFL in a high use area in your home can shave $20 a year off your annual power bill. Changing all incandescent bulbs in the average house to CFLs can reduce bills by around $170. At the same time, you'll be cutting your household carbon pollution by 600kg per year.++*
CFL’s only use around 20% of the energy a traditional incandescent bulb uses and can last up to 10 times longer, saving both on energy and replacement costs.+ *
Below is a table showing the amount of energy used by alternative bulbs compared to the traditional incandescent bulbs:
- + * Source (climatechange.gov.au)
- ++ * Source savepower.nsw.gov.au
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Like most things it depends on the quality of the product and the availability. A 22w CFL can start at around $5.00 - this doesn’t seem like a lot but it is a fair bit higher than an incandescent bulb that can be under $1.00. The new technology however, means the lights will last a lot longer than the old incandescent lights. Over a 5 year cycle you will probably spend less on more efficient lights then you would on the incandescent simply because you won’t have to change them as much.
SaveEnergyQuote has partnered with Australia’s leading online lighting retailer to bring a selection of energy efficient globes. Click the links below to browse a wide range of brands, styles and colours, making sure to take note of the watts.
Click here to view Light Bulbs - LED
Click here to view Light Bulbs - Halogen Bulbs
Click here to view Light Bulbs - Fluorescent Bulbs
Click here to view Light Bulbs - Metal Halide Bulbs
GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES
The energy efficiency program and/or incentives for lighting varies from state to state, however, the principle is very similar with energy efficient certificates issued for carbon abated over a given period of time. For the latest information we recommend requesting a quote by clicking here.
MORE INFORMATION
The NSW Government have compiled a comprehensive report on the various types of lights and their energy consumption properties. More detailed information can be found below.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/sustainbus/120434EnEffLight.pdf
