One way to slash your electricity bill and save energy:
The future's bright?
By Dr Matthew Lockwood
Last Updated: 3:01pm BST 22/05/2007
Ask anyone in the climate change business these days, and they'll tell you straight away that it's not the sexy new renewable energy products like solar panels and wind turbines that we should be thinking about first.
Dr Matthew Lockwood with a CFL bulb
Instead, the experts tell us, we should be using energy much more efficiently, getting the same heat, light, refrigeration, washed clothes and so on, but using less juice in the process.
When it comes to heating our homes, efficiency means more boring old insulation. But what about keeping our homes bright and cheery without ruining the planet?
Almost a quarter of the electricity we use in our homes goes to keeping the lights on, and the trend is towards more and brighter lighting.
Multiple downlighters in kitchens and bathrooms are now de rigeur.
The new growth area is now lighting outside, with the likes of Matt James urging us to make our gardens look like Oxford Street at Christmas.
Light pollution aside, the question is whether we can do all of this using less electricity.
The standard solution is the compact fluorescent light (CFL), aka the low energy light bulb, which has been around for over 10 years. These use 4-5 times less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs, and their costs have come right down.
advertisementTesco is now selling CFLs for as little as £1.37, and there are many specialist on-line retailers. While still a little more expensive than the incandescent bulb, they last a lot longer, and manufacturers claim lifetime savings on electricity bills of £30 or more.
When they first appeared, CFLs looked just like little fluorescent light strips - ugly little sticks. Now they come in all shapes and sizes from candles and globes to spirals, and also cope with screw and bayonet fittings. Modern CFLs no longer flicker when coming on, although they still take time to warm up.
CFLs are also now available as replacements for halogen downlighters, those spotlights recessed into the ceilings of our kitchens and bathrooms that seem to have become ubiquitous. Crucially, you can now even buy CFL downlighters that work with a dimmer switch (look out for the Megaman products).
Unfortunately, the boffins haven't totally cracked it. The 11 watt low energy replacement for the most widely used 50 watt downlighter is unfortunately just a little too long to fit into the standard fitting.
The one I bought recently is currently protruding about a quarter of an inch from the ceiling above the sink (although I have to say it gives a nice strong light).
You can now even buy CFL downlighters that work with a dimmer switch
Despite falling prices and more flexibility, it seems that most of us still don't like the energy saving light bulb.
Fewer than 3 in every 100 bulbs sold is a CFL.
Some people still complain about the quality of the light from CFLs, despite the much bigger range of tones now available, saying that it just doesn't seem to be as warm and bright as the glow of a filament.
CFLs also contain mercury, and so need to be disposed of carefully.
The US firm, General Electric, is fighting back, saying that it will be developing a high efficiency incandescent bulb that will ultimately be as efficient as CFLs. Unfortunately, this may not be ready until 2010, by which time the EU (along with Canada) will have followed Australia in banning incandescent bulbs.
The real future of lighting may lie elsewhere, with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs are solid state lighting, involving no fragile filaments or tubes. So far they have mainly been used as the "on" lights for stereos, TVs and DVDs, but in the last couple of years LED products for lighting have started to appear.
There are lots of specialist firms on-line. Again, you can buy a replacement for the 50 watt halogen downlighter - the main LED version uses only 3 watts, a staggering 94 per cent saving in energy.
The bad news is that these LED lights give out a watery and weak light, and even the "warm" whites seem quite cold. You'll currently need more fittings to get the same amount of light as you did from halogens.
However, the drive to discover more energy efficient solutions is now stronger than ever. Through their Osram lighting division, Siemens have announced a new "Ostar" LED light that will give more brightness than the 50 watt downlighter (indeed as much as a standard 60 watt light bulb) using only around 14 watts.
Whether the Ostar really is a low energy solution that we actually like will only be clear when it comes on the market this summer. But the trend towards more energy efficient lighting will surely continue.
The incandescent bulb was originally invented by Edison almost 140 years ago. It is surely overdue for an upgrade.
Dr Matthew Lockwood is Senior Research Fellow at the Climate Change Team, Institute for Public Policy Research