PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DO something for the environment beginning in 2010 can start by making the shift from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps. It will not only reduce use of energy but will also mean significant savings for consumers.

By using so much energy, incandescent bulbs not only are a major user of a valuable and finite resource, energy, but also cost households so much in electrical consumption.

The Department of Energy and the Firefly Electric & Lighting Corporation have launched campaigns to get people to shift from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to reduce the use of energy and to help households save more. But many people still know little about why they should make the shift.

Rico Gonzales, chief executive officer of Philips Philippines, answered some questions that consumers might have about CFL. He underscored the significant reduction in monthly electric bills that consumers could expect if they shifted to CFL.

Replacing a 60-watt incandescent, for instance, with quality 11-watt CFL could mean savings of about P1,000 a month or P3 per day, Gonzales said. The savings should more than make up for the price difference?CFL costs P99 while incandescent sells for P35. CFLs also last much longer, and thus have to be changed less often.

Gonzales added that since the first CFL was introduced in the country in the ?80s, technology had made it so much more efficient, more energy- and cost-saving, thus, an even more viable alternative than the first generation lamp.

Concerns

There have been concerns about CFL?s mercury content or not being bright enough or even not pretty and small enough for chandeliers and other decorative lighting fixtures. Another complaint was that CFL was not ?dimmable.?

Gonzales said brightness should not be a problem if CFL with the correct wattage was used to replace the old incandescent. ?Say, if you have a 100w incandescent, the best CFL replacement should be about 20w for you to get the same brightness. If you want a brighter CFL, then opt for the one with higher wattage, like the common 23-watt CFL. In the end, you still get about 80 percent energy savings while retaining or even exceeding the brightness of your incandescent,? he said.

As for replacing fluorescent lamps, Gonzales said where and how the light would be used should be taken into account. ?Linear fluorescents are intended to give uniform lighting, with minimal number of lighting points. That?s why for applications such as offices, classrooms and factories, linear fluorescents are being used,? he said.

The Philips executive explained that CFL could not give the same uniformity of lighting provided by linear fluorescent. To approximate the ?coverage? of fluorescent would require more lights. ?CFL are normally used for down lighting and general lighting for small rooms, corridors, corners, etc.,? Gonzales said.

On the question of CFL being dimmable, he said CFL with this function were already available in the market, with some even being operated by remote control.

With regards to aesthetics, Gonzales said CFL are now available in all sizes and shapes. ?There are CFL [with] the classic shapes for incandescent applications like the mushroom shape for lamp shades, candle for chandeliers or even ping-pong shape for decorative and ornamental lighting. There are also CFL spotlights, CFL that can fit in very small fixtures and CFL with decorative covers.?

Proper disposal

Gonzales also addressed the issue of mercury from discarded CFL being released into the atmosphere and becoming a health hazard. He said CFL contain very little of the chemical, and, thus, are of very little danger to the environment. ?A good brand like Philips limits the mercury content to a level that is even below government standards; in this way, the effect on the environment will be very insignificant. [But to ensure safety], proper disposal is recommended.?

Busted CFL should be wrapped in old newspaper before being discarded so the bulb will not break and mercury will not be released into the atmosphere. Gonzales added that, for big volume disposal, the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR) had accredited disposal companies to do the job.

Now that CFL is the ?in? thing for lighting, the market is flooded with so many brands. How do consumers decide what to buy?

Gonzales offered the following tips: 1) Buy a trusted brand that had been tested by the government for performance and safety; look for the ICC or BPS stickers; 2) test to compare, not just to know if the product is working or not; 3) read the specifications, check the brightness rating by looking at the lumens rate; check the burning hours as some may claim a three-year life span or about 6,000 hours but will only last 5,000 hours; 4) always consider energy efficiency, not just the savings. You can get this by getting the lumens and dividing it by wattage (lumen/wattage); the higher the answer you get, the more reason to buy that bulb.

Have a bright but more energy-efficient new year.

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