twodoebs

I'm not a tree hugger. Kati kinda is.

We saw "An Inconvenient Truth." And yes--thank you very much, Bobby-I--it motivated us to go out and buy Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs ("CFLs").

Energy Star--which is "a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices" (you know of it because they've got their seal of approval on all your new appliances . . . )--says "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an [CFL], we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars." One CFL reportedly saves over $30 in energy costs over the course of it's lifetime. Even an SUV driving, air-conditioning blasting buffoon such as myself thinks that's pretty impressive.

When, however, Jill navigated us to our local Home Depot, we realized that there is a whole AISLE of CFLs to chose from . . . Al Gore didn't tell us saving the planet would involve this much decision making! So--for the benefit of those of you who will read this blog posting and decide to jump on the energy saving bandwagon--here's our report.

Go for the high wattage. You're already reducing your energy consumption by 80% over incandescent bulbs, so just go for the good stuff. Also, avoid the "Daylight" CFLs--the light is way too harsh and will reinforce the negative thoughts you undoubtedly have about putting a "fluorescent" bulb in your lights at home. The "daylight" CFLs are the ones that'll make you feel as if you're in an office. We vetoed a "daylight" CFL everywhere inside our apartment, including overhead lights and kitchen task lighting. We still might give a "daylight" CFL a try outside on the patio.

If, however, you go for the "soft white" CFLs, nobody will even KNOW it's not a regular old bulb. Really!--I promise. We're using "soft white" CFLs as the workhorse of our newly designed lighting scheme--in the overhead fixtures in our bedrooms, kitchen, and living room, as well as in all our lamps.

Somewhere in the middle is the light produced by the "bright white" CFLs. It's pretty clearly not the same as what one would expect from an incandescent bulb, but it's not off-putting like what comes out of the "daylight" CFL. I, actually, kinda like it . . . it's very bright and produces a clear, sharp illumination. We "bright white" CFLs in our bathroom sockets and are very happy with the improvement.

I highly recommend the change. Plus, now I can tell earthy-hippy types that I've actually DONE something to make up for the fact that we're gradually frying the earth like a marble in a McDonald's french-fryer!