Between 5 percent and 10 percent of your home’s monthly energy bill goes toward lighting. You can reduce that spending by switching from incandescent bulbs to today’s new compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.
 CFLs provide the same amount of light as standard incandescent bulbs, but use fewer watts of energy and produce less heat. They are four times more efficient and last up to 10 times longer than incandescents. Over its lifetime, a single CFL will provide around $30 in energy-bill savings.
In addition to its cost-saving benefits, the use of CFLs is better for the environment. Each CFL prevents more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime. That's the equivalent of saving more than 210 pounds of coal from being burned. And if every American home replaced their five most frequently used lights or the bulbs in them with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR, we would prevent the greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from more than 8 million cars.
Compact fluorescents work best in fixtures that will be used consistently for four or more hours per day. They work both indoors and outdoors and can be purchased where most other light bulbs are sold. CFLs do contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing, therefore used CFLs should be disposed of using the guidance provided in this reference document.
Switching to CFLs is an easy way to save money and energy in your home and help reduce pollution and waste in the environment.
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