Are you looking for a way to save money and help save the planet, all at once?  If you haven’t made the change yet, you should consider looking into alternative lighting sources for your home or business.  Two important options to include in your research are compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and light-emitting diodes (otherwise known as LEDs). 

A compact fluorescent lamp is more frequently referred to as a compact fluorescent light or an energy saving light.   It is designed to replace the incandescent bulbs that have been used for so long in households and businesses. 

CFLs produce the same amount of light as incandescent light bulbs while using a smaller amount of power and having a significantly longer life. The CFLs last between 8 and 15 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

The most efficient way to maximize the lifetime of your CFLs is to allow them to stay on for an extended period of time. If you only use the CFL for small amounts of time, then you reduce the life of the bulb; you could even reduce it enough to effectively give it the life span of an incandescent bulb. 

As an energy saver, CFLs use between 20-33% of the power that incandescent bulbs use.   Additionally, there is a decrease in heating (the CFLs do not produce as much heat as incandescent bulbs). These two factors significantly decrease the energy that is necessary. 

With these benefits, CFLs tend to cost more than your average light bulb.  In the long term, however, the CFL bulbs will save the average user a significant amount of money.

What is the downside then? Well, CFLs contain mercury, a hazardous substance.  Subsequently, there could be contamination in your home or business if a CFL breaks.  There is potential for environmental contamination.  Also, CFLs emit UV rays that could potentially be hazardous to your health.

An alternative, environmentally sound technology that is still being developed is LED lighting. LEDs have many of the same advantages that CFLs provide with less of the potential hazards. 

LEDs offer more than 3 to 5 times the life of CFLs. This is 35 to 50 times the average life of an incandescent bulb.   Like CFLs, LEDs are very low when it comes to emitting heat.  As for efficiency, an LED outputs more light per watt than its incandescent counterpart. 

LEDs also light up immediately when you turn them on and they do not burnout as a result of frequent turning off and on, as CFLs tend to do. 

LEDS still need several improvements however.  LEDs are very sensitive to voltage and therefore need specific adapters often.  Additionally, the light quality produced by LEDs is not the same as incandescent bulbs.  High quality LEDs still tend to outperform CFLs in this capacity though. 

Whether you choose to purchase CFLs, LEDs, or some combination of both for your home or business, changing to these products is absolutely a good choice.  You will save money in the long run and also contribute to lowering the use of resources and taking care of our planet.