Compact Flourescents and Energy Savings
Last summer I got rid of almost all of my regular light bulbs and replaced them with compact fluorescent bulbs. The bulbs were about four times as expensive as regular bulbs, but I have really liked the savings. My electric bill in an all electric, 1600 square foot house averaged $92 per month for the first four months of last year. This year, after having the compact fluorescents in place, the average for the first four months has been $57. That is a 38% reduction!
Compact fluorescent bulbs produce a brighter and whiter light than incandescent bulbs. Because of the amount of light produced, you can replace a 120 watt bulb with a 30 watt bulb and get around the same amount of light. In addition, the compact fluorescents give off around 70% less heat and that should help make my air conditioning a little bit more efficient. My research tells me that compact fluorescent bulbs last around 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
I realize that the months I have compared are not the months that the air conditioning will be running like crazy. But if I can see a 38% reduction in my electric bills 6 months out of the year, that could save me around $660 over 5 years. Even a 20% reduction during the hot months could save me another $650 over 5 years. That comes to around $1300 over 5 years, which is a lot less than what I paid for the bulbs.
The city of Austin is exploring mandating energy efficiency updates to homes in the city before they can be sold. Rather than that, how about the city buying a huge amount of compact fluorescent bulbs and then selling them to residents at a discount? It wouldn't be a mandate, but it would be a no-brainer if promoted the right way.
What else can you do in a home to cut your summer energy bills? Install solar screens or film on windows that get a lot of direct sunlight to reduce the heat load. Have someone come in and spray the underside of your roof with a radiant barrier to reduce the heat coming into the attic. If there is room, add trees that will provide shade to the western facing side of the house.