Lighting Efficiency | Eau Claire Energy Cooperative

How Much Can You Save? | Cleanup and Disposal | Other Resources

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) use up to 75% less energy than standard bulbs, last up to 10 times longer, and on average can save you more than $30 in energy costs over their lifetime.

Lighting Facts:

Lighting accounts for 20% (1/5) of the average home's electric bills.

The average U.S. household has more than 40 sockets for lights in their home. If even five incandescent light bulbs that burn three hours a day are replaced with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs, the average savings could be $225 in electricity over the lifetime of the CFLs.
Source: Dairyland Power Cooperative

How Much Money Can You Save?

The chart below compares the savings of a CFL bulb compared to its incandescent counterpart. Use our interactive form to input how many bulbs of each type you need to replace and figure out how much money you could be saving.

Incandescent bulb	Lifetime Operating Cost	Compact Fluorescent	Lifetime Operating Cost (Avg)
40 watt	$30.82	9 or 11 watt	$7.71
60 watt	$46.23	13 or 17 watt	$11.56
75 watt	$57.79	18 or 20 watt	$14.64
100 watt	77.06	23 or 26 watt	$18.88
150 watt	115.58	32 or 42 watt	$28.51

*Savings are based on 8,000 hour bulb lifetime at 0.09632 cents per kWh. Lifetime operating cost is kWh cost only, cost of bulb is not included.

Replace incandescent bulb

Average Total Savings: $0

Cleanup and Disposal

It is true that CFL bulbs do contain small amounts of mercury. It is recommended that you follow these procedures for disposal of your light bulbs.

If you break a CFL:

Pick up all glass fragements and put them in a sealed jar or bag. Wipe the area clean in the case of hard floors, or vacuum in the case of carpeting. Place all cleanup materials in the trash, and be sure to wash your hands.

For a more detailed set of instructions and information about handeling CFL bulbs, read this information document.

If your CFL has burnt out:

There are several places that will recycle CFL bulbs; they should not be thrown in the trash. Eau Claire Energy does accept used CFL bulbs for recycling at our office in Fall Creek. They can be dropped off during regular business hours, click here for location information.

For a list of other CFL recycle locations in the Eau Claire area, check http://www.co.eau-claire.wi.us/Recycle/recycle.htm.