CleanLights at Home

Banish your incandescent Bulbs to the Broom Closet – Help Clean Our Air

You can participate in USM’s CleanLights Program at home. USM’s Sustainability Office offers the following information to help you clean up your light service:

The apparently high purchase cost of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) is a great value when you consider the total life cycle cost of your light service. The serious money is in the cost of the electricity needed to run incandescent light bulbs. (see table below) You might have to buy more than ten incandescent bulbs to get the same light service provided by one CFL.

Nearly 1 pound of global-warming carbon dioxide gas is released by a fossil-fueled power plant for each kilowatt-hour of electricity that is used by Maine residents. Switching to CFLs helps keep our air clean.

Buy “Energy Star” qualified light bulbs (the Energy Star logo will appear on the packaging). All Energy Star qualifying bulbs are guaranteed for a minimum of one year.

Buy the correct type and size bulb for the job. READ THE PACKAGE to make sure you get the bulb you need: some CFLs can be used with dimmer switches, some are fine to -20 degrees F, some can be used “base down”, some “base up”, some are fine in enclosed fixtures, some are fine exposed to the weather, some are 3-way, some are floodlights, some are warm white, some are “full spectrum” or “sunlight” bulbs, etc.

Start by putting CFLs in lights you regularly have “on” for two or more hours a day: perhaps a stairway light, reading light, or kitchen light. Don’t put CFLs in locations where they are only rarely or briefly used. Incandescent bulbs are fine in the occasionally accessed attic, in briefly visited closets and in unheated sheds or rooms that are seldom used. This assumes these lights are “off” when the spaces are not being used.

Whenever possible, use one brighter bulb rather that two less bright ones to provide the light you need. Lower costs and greater efficiencies are then possible for the same amount of light service.

Energy Star qualified CFLs are a great choice if you are interested in saving money. CFLs offer significant environmental benefits, reduced reliance on foreign energy sources, and they help protect our health by keeping the air cleaner. The Portland, Maine area is listed by the EPA as a “moderate non-attainment area” for ozone. Much of this ozone is produced by emissions from power plants.

Whatever technology you use for your light service, please remember that the cleanest lights are those that are “off” when they are not needed. “Light Trespass” and light pollution don’t just bother some of your human neighbors. Moths, beetles, birds, sea turtles, and other organisms can be fatally disoriented by unnecessary efforts to turn night into day. Enjoy a good night’s sleep. Participate in CleanLights.

Questions or comments? Please contact: Dudley Greeley, USM’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator at 780-4384 or dgreeley@usm.maine.edu

Change one light bulb – Save $100.00

Bulb Type	Watts	Light Output	Bulb Life	Number of Bulbs Required	Bulb Cost	Total Bulb	Energy Required	Total Cost @
		(lumens)	(hours)	for 15000 hrs of Service		Cost		$0.122/kWh
Incandescent	75	1200	750	20	$0.25	$5.00	1125kWh	$142.25
CFL	20	1200	15000	1	$8.00	$8.00	300kWh	$44.60

On average, each kWh of electricity we use in Maine results in the release of nearly 1 pound of carbon dioxide from a power plant .

Printed on paper recovered from the university’s waste stream.