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The Revolution
This is a revolution. If you want to shut an airport then stop flying.
Want an end to factory farming? Grow your own. An end to pollution?
Change to renewables. An end to war & poverty? Microgenerate. Life
for your childen? Stop needing oil. YOU have THIS Power. You do not
need Government. Seize the initiative. Bring democracy to your
community. Be an example to your children. Take responsibility.
Change for good today. |
Light up your life
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Why devote an entire
page of this web page to the humble light-bulb? As mentioned
when we opened the Substitute Step, the electric light bulb has
become a symbol of everything we hope we can do. It is simple,
lasts longer and saves us money and carbon. It is a win, win,
win situation. Yet, amazingly, way too few of us use them on the
basis of their higher unit price to purchase. Prices may now be
tumbling but for all the wrong reasons. We mass produce them in
China and then ship them back to Europe vastly increasing their
embedded Carbon.
Replace every light
bulb in the UK with a CFL and we shut down one whole Power
Station. Even so the cost of
lighting is rising in terms of Carbon. 7.8 million tonnes a year
in the UK and still going up. The reason? We like light. We are
like a moth to the flame and we invent ever new ways to
over-light our homes in very inefficient ways. Our friend the
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) still only accounts for 7% of the
market. Read on.... |
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Moths to the flame...
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The EU has now
announced its intention to ban the incandescent light bulb
by 2010 with the UK phasing out nearly all high-energy bulbs
by 2011 for domestic use. Similar measures are afoot in
countries around the world. Indeed the old joke about how
many politicians it takes to change a light bulb has worn
very thin in a few places. Still, it is all to the good. It
is estimated that the EU phase out will save £5.4billion GBP
in energy costs and 20 million tonnes of carbon. A similar
ban in Australia should save 800,000 tonnes there annually.
Each UK home
has, on average 23 light bulbs and our thirst knows no
quenching. Electrical consumption for domestic lighting has
doubled in the last 35 years and is expected to rise by
another 12% by 2010. What is to blame? Well, halogen bulbs
for one. Plus the modern craze for using lots of small
inefficient halogens throughout a room so that we are
flooded with light. We crave our light. It is seen as
sophisticated and modern. Like most domestic appliance use
few people join up the dots between their use and
electricity bills or their carbon output. Most of us have
friends who leave lights on all around their houses all of
the time as if there is no off switch.
£180 million GBP is wasted every year in the UK due to lights
being left on when not needed. That is 770,000 tonnes of
CO2.
It is time for
us Carbon Cutters to turn the tide. There is a new weapon at
our disposal. It may not have quite pricked the public
consciousness yet but the humble LED is our friend too. A
few probably associate the LED with that little red light on
appliances that indicate that it is on standby. Hence this
is usually a negative association for the lower carbon
enthusiast. However, the light-emitting diode can also be
our friend. It is a piece of solid-state electronics that
has been around for years but is slowly being refined for
pure lighting duties. The reason? It is incredibly efficient as most of the power in comes out as light rather
than heat. Sadly they tend to be very small but they can be
clustered together for effect. Already the first LED bulbs
are appearing in the shops as Halogen replacements for spot
lighting. Some of you may have already seen the replacing
the regular tungsten filament light bulb in handheld torches.
This is an ideal use for them as it makes the batteries last
much longer! The
LED has four times the life of the CFL. The life of a CFL is
nothing to be sniffed at either (see "The CFL Revolution" -
opposite). Already some retailers are starting to ONLY stock
CFL's. Prices have plummeted making the economic case better
and better each year. If one paradigm is surely to shift
over the next ten years it will be this one. We will soon
have forgotten Edison's invention altogether - like a bad
nightmare. What
of its detractors? Sure, the CFL used to be expensive, but
not anymore. They used to be limited in what mounts they
could be used with, but no more. Time was that you couldn't
use them with dimmer switches. Now you can. They used to
buzz, but not anymore. They used to be slow to start and
slow to warm up. This was true ten years ago but most modern
CFL's, and most brands, light up instantaneously to near
full brilliance. (Although this is still not universal. Our
research suggest some types & brands have a long way to go
on this front.)
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Tip
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Don't be tempted to
believe that burning candles is somehow more efficient than a
light bulb. Apart from the obvious fire hazard a candle is 357
times less light-efficient than a CFL and 71 times less
efficient than a regular incandescent bulb. Most of the energy
is heat. Great if you are cold. Another surprising fact about
oil is that generating electricity from oil to power a CFL
actually produces up to 450 times more useful light than burning
that oil in an oil lamp. Burning any type of oil or wax for
light is terribly inefficient. |
Resource
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I'm not taking it any more!
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Post-Carbon Man has had enough and he isn't taking it any
more. Today he has got it in for lights. What
is it with people and lights? We should return to the "dark
ages". We simply do not need so much light in our lives.
Learn
what he has to say by clicking here for a
popup. |
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Natural Light as an alternative
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Who would have
thought of that? Obvious really when you think about it.
 Why
reach for the light switch when the sun outside is far brighter
than we could ever need? Windows to the south will give plenty
of light but more glare whilst those to the west are best for
that evening mood light. Natural light can relieve headaches,
fatigue, stress and hypertension caused by artificial light.
As an aid to
enhancing your use of natural light try painting your home
interior with very light colours and use as many mirrors as you
can get away with. Avoid obstructing your windows with net
curtains, drapes or ornaments. Indeed, de-clutter all of your
house and let the light flood in.
How about this as an
alternative? The "Sun-Pipe" is a devices invented, marketed and
installed by a company called Monodraught in the UK. It is a one
of a number of clever lighting and ventilation devices designed
to use the power of the sun and wind to bring air and light to
the interior of buildings. Arguably these used to be called
'windows' but the sunpipe is slightly more sophisticated in that
it can channel light down a reflective tube so that it can be
directed deep inside a building. For example it can go through
an unoccupied roof space to the room underneath. Learn more at
www.monodraught.com. |
The enemy!
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The old fashioned
filament incandescent light bulb was patented by Thomas Edison
in 1880. It works by passing electricity through a filament made
of tungsten. This heats up inside a vacuum tube that prevents
oxidisation of the filament, ie, it won't burn out. The filament
heats up and gives off light (although mostly just heat). The
original Edison bulb had a lifetime of 1500 hours although, for
some reason, the modern retail bulb only lasts 1000 hours. The
lower life is probably caused by the way it is manufactured. The
materials are cheaper and don't last as long as they could. In
essence it has built-in obsolescence. It was made to be
disposable. This suits the manufacturers just fine as it makes
you buy a new one. |
The CFL Revolution
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Your regular light
bulb is known as an "incandescent" and is horribly inefficient.
Just 5% of the energy is ever converted into light. The rest is
released as heat. The CFL uses one-fifth of the power of the
incandescent whilst lasting 12 times longer. Each one will save
you £100GBP in their lifetime if used to replace one of those
old-fashioned bulbs.
CFL's are now
available for almost every mount, shape, size and application.
(In fact the only type you cannot get are the pygmy bulbs
although it is expected that LED's will cover all of that end of
the market eventually.) CFL's came to the market in the 1980's.
They are nothing more than a long fluorescent tube twisted or
coiled into a smaller space. Actually it is a little more
complicated than that. Some conventional fluorescent strips are
really inefficient and yield a "G" rating in the UK. It
isn't known why. Maybe someone can write in and tell us. |
CFL Libraries
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One CFL Supplier is
now selling pre-packaged CFL Libraries. The way this works is
that the Libraries are purchased centrally by the Community and
then lent out to each person in turn. Everyone then tries each
CFL for size around the different types of bulb mounts around
their house. Hopefully, using them for a sort while may dispel
most of the myths surrounding energy-efficient bulbs. When each
borrower finds something they like they can then purchase these
bulbs from a pre-prepared list. Click
here to learn more.
What is more - there
is a possibility that local Councils may have a budget for this
sort of thing and can offer a Grant to purchase the Library.
There are additional subsidy schemes from the Lighting
Association that allows the most popular Bulbs to be purchased
for only £0.40 GBP each (plus VAT). Our thanks to Chris Goodall
for passing this information onto us. Carbon Cutters will
investigate further. |
Millablog
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Once upon a time (Daddy tells me) our home had no Energy Saving
Light bulbs. He bought his first CFL back in 1997 because they
seemed a wise investment. But his friends didn't like them as
they were slow to react to the switch. So he put them in the
attic and garage. Now, ten years later, we have better bulbs in
nearly EVERY light socket. Daddy prides himself in finding a CFL
for every light in the house. From smallest to largest we have
them all! |
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| References: |
- Godfrey Boyle, "Energy Systems & Sustainability"
Oxford University Press 2003
- Organic Life Magazine June 2007
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