CFLs at Fairlawn

• It doesn’t fit
• The colour of everything changed
• It can’t dim
• Its slow in warming up 
• It can’t be in an enclosed fixture
• It creates a garbage problem
• I shouldn’t shut them off 
• The payback’s no good!

At the Church we undertook an aggressive campaign to purge as many of the old round bulbs as possible. We replaced 108 old bulbs, reducing 7,700 watts from the connected electrical load in the Church. This represented a 78% reduction for fixtures that were spread around in offices, corridors, meeting rooms and the sanctuary. We bought all of our replacement compact fluorescent bulbs at local hardware stores, so it was not specialty stuff.

Nobody has complained about the change so we have shown that most obsolete lighting can be replaced in an unobtrusive way.   We too ran into various problems and could not replace all bulbs. Some situations will require fixture changes, so they await engineering and budgeting. We thought it would be helpful to share some of our learning to help you do the right thing – get rid of obsolete technology damaging our grand children’s future. 

It doesn't fit!

Its true that not all fixtures can immediately accept a new style bulb, but most can with some thinking and tinkering. The bulbs being sold in the last year or so are much slimmer than some of the first ones on the market, so it might be worth trying again. But still you may be left with situations like:

·         The new bulb’s base is bigger than the “socket” or some part of the harp supporting the shade. Possible solutions may be a different harp, or a bulb base extender – all available at a lighting store in the neighbourhood. You might have to combine gizmos for this, and the shade may end up sitting at a different height relative to the bulb. If you don’t like that, maybe its time to get that new shade you have always been wanting.

·         The shade that used to clip onto the old round bulb may not sit right on the new curly one. There are now curly bulbs inside round bulbs so they look like the old style, and they can accept clip-on shades. They are more expensive, but would you rather buy a new fixture?

·         Decorative fixtures have candelabra (small) sockets. There are now a variety of fluorescents with candelabra bases. They look like “fat albert,” so take some getting used to, though they usually fit.

Fluorescent light shows off colours as determined by the gases inside the bulb. In the workshop colour might not matter much, but elsewhere use the kind with “2700K” on the packaging or the base of the bulb. There is a wide variety of names given to bulb types, ranging from daylight to soft. But 2700K bulbs are imperceptibly different from incandescent bulbs (lower numbers are closest). But you have to look at the fine print on the packaging or bulb. Not all manufacturers show it so you may want to experiment before buying a bundle of them.

Dimmers on your dining room light fixture remain a problem. But if you have spot or flood lights on dimmers, buy the dimmable fluorescent bulbs now on the market. However make sure you have old style resistive dimmers, or the new bulb may die early. “Three way” or “tri-light” bulbs are also now available in fluorescent. But ensure that the new bulbs don’t extend below the ceiling in “pot light” situations, before you go and buy a bunch.

A related problem is motion sensors or timer switches which are electronic. Basically, anything which electronically adjusts the power going to a bulb may kill fluorescents quickly. So don’t try to change such bulbs, until this technical problem is solved. And if you are buying a dimmer or timer, try to find one that does not say “for incandescent bulbs only” – it may be hard to find.

Its true, some fluorescents are not as bright when you turn them on as they are after a few seconds. I have not yet learned how to select, but have learned how to cope with the warmup period. In a situation where instant brightness is important, I have left one old fellar in a three bulb fixture, while changing the rest. This way we save most of the energy rather than none of it.

Warmup is also a problem for outdoor bulbs in winter. Some just flicker when its cold. Look for ones rated for outdoor temperatures – again, read the fine print on the package.

Many packages warn about this. Well, you say, these things don’t get nearly as hot as the old ones. You’re right, but the electronics inside their base don’t like even slightly elevated temperatures, so you have to ensure there is opportunity for air to move through the fixture. This may involve adjusting the lens so the bulb is not totally enclosed. Do you even need the lens? Look up in the east or west side of the sanctuary to see how we did it. If you have a recessed fixture with a lens which cannot be moved, sorry, its time for a new (fluorescent) fixture. 

First you will face a pile of left over perfectly good obsolete bulbs. You might save a couple of specialty bulbs as replacements for any of that style that remain after you have changed all you can. The rest are garbage, not blue box. Don’t give them to anyone – its not a gift to the environment to inflict your waste on the environment, care of someone else. If you want to give light bulbs, give out fluorescent ones.

All fluorescent bulbs, spiral or straight tubes, contain mercury so should be treated as hazardous waste. Read the labels carefully, some promote their low mercury content. Fortunately you won’t be throwing out nearly as many of these as you did of the old ones. But when you do, treat them like batteries and old paint: take them to the hazardous recycling events, the transfer station, or collection points at the entrance to Home Depot, and maybe other places – watch for them.

Just because they use less energy doesn’t liberate you to be wasteful. So shut them off when not in use! Then we come to the old wives’ tale about the big surge in energy when you turn them back on, offsetting the savings of having them off. Its true there is an surge, but its instantaneous, or immaterial. So always turn them off when not in use.

What about the effect on bulb life, from shutting it off all the time? Its true that the more frequently any bulb is turned on and off, the fewer hours it will run before ultimate burnout. But the relevant concern is the number of calendar days between replacements. If a bulb is rated (as new ones are now) for roughly 10,000 hours of burning on average, then leaving them on all the time will give you a little better than a year’s service. Switching them off when not in use will probably extend the service period into 5-10 years in most domestic uses. It also saves energy, waste and bulb costs. So TURN IT OFF is the best strategy, as for many dimensions of conservation.

The payback’s pretty good, but that depends what you want. You might think of only replacing bulbs that burn long hours for quicker recovery of your investment. But any fluorescent bulb will save at the same rate, when it is on. So over its long life its extra cost will be more than recovered. But before we try to throw numbers around, what has payback got to do with it?

My lungs, the birds, and West Nile virus (for example) don’t know about money or the economy. So don’t let human instruments get in the way of protecting God’s world for our grand children, and the birds. (This is why the Church is seriously planning a more expensive and substantially more efficient heating system to replace its old tired boilers.)

Every decision we make that affects our energy use in the future needs to consider our grandchildren's planet.

So the last word is that when you buy a new light fixture or bulb, make a decision for the future -- not for your bank account -- ensure its fluorescent or LED, not incandescent or halogen.

- John Cowan, for the Green Team at Fairlawn Avenue United Church