Home Improvement

Ramona Madhosingh-Hector
Urban Sustainability Agent

Homeowners will admit that no matter what season of the year there’s always a project to be done around the house. Some examples of projects include organizing closets, redecorating rooms, painting and appliance upgrades. The consumer market is full of greener choices for all of your home projects and the Tampa Bay Home Show will provide a great opportunity for you to explore new ideas and innovations for your home.

One of the easiest home improvement projects that you can do in your home is to update lighting fixtures. New lighting fixtures can add dimension while increasing functionality and style in any room. The type of bulb you choose for this lighting fixture can also save you money over the lifetime of the fixture. New lighting choices now include energy saving incandescent bulbs per the 2012 lighting standards, compact florescent lamps and light emitting diodes. When compared to a traditional incandescent bulb, there are significant savings potential as you move up the lighting spectrum –

• Energy saving incandescent – 25% more efficient and can last up to 3x longer 
• CFL (compact florescent lamp) – 75% more efficient and can last up to 10x longer 
• LED (light emitting diode) – 75% to 80% more efficient and can last up to 25x longer 

Check out the videos at these links that explain the differences between the new lighting technologies and use the information to shop for the light you need by using lumens instead of watts. http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=11975 
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=11976 

For the past three years, the Pinellas Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP) has focused on energy conservation and behavioral strategies that you can adopt to save money in your home. PEEP has distributed compact florescent lamps as well as light emitting diodes. Check out the PEEP booth at the Tampa Bay Home Show this weekend to receive a manual powered LED flashlight – a must have for hurricane season.

Resources:
Energy Efficient Homes: Easy Steps to Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
Avoiding Fraud and Deception
Design Strategies for a Sustainable Home Landscape
Green Guard

Quick Facts About LEDs

Pinellas Energy Efficiency Project

While LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) can be more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), they are currently more expensive. But costs are coming down—in 2007, they were roughly one-seventh of costs in 2001—and it's expected that LEDs will be competitive within a few years.

Here are some more facts:

• LED lights are very small, extremely durable, and can be manufactured in a variety of colors and forms.
• They have the potential to be more energy efficient and last far longer than most current lighting technologies.
• They are considered environmentally friendly, since they contain no mercury, and the visible light applications for home or business do not emit infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) light.
• They produce very little heat; and, their lifetime is not affected by frequent on/off switching.
• "White" light is created by combining the light from red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDs, or by coating a blue LED with yellow phosphor.

Would you like a FREE LED replacement bulb to get started with this exciting new technology? Join us September 24 at Pinellas County Extension for the first annual Pinellas Home Energy Symposium. Experts will answer your questions from 9am to noon. Click here to register. All registered participants will receive an LED, 60watt-equivalent bulb which was made in Florida!

To learn more about LED Lighting, click here to download this pdf fact sheet from the University of Florida / IFAS.

Green Light to Savings

By Mary Campbell,
Pinellas County Extension Director, Urban Sustainability

Making a commitment to change future practices is an important step to sustainable living. If you make a commitment to a new practice you are much more likely to follow through and make that practice part of your daily habits. Many sustainable practices are not difficult, we just have to remember.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. (EPA, 2008)

As energy costs rise and we work to reduce our carbon footprint, what could be easier than changing out a few light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights (CFL). Although initially more expensive, you will save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime. Energy-efficient CFLs can be used in recessed fixtures, table lamps, track lighting, ceiling fixtures and porch lights. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb.To choose the ENERGY STAR qualified CFL with the right amount of light, find a CFL that is labeled as equivalent to the incandescent bulb you are replacing. Light bulb manufacturers include this information right on the product packaging to make it easy for consumers to choose the equivalent bulb.

CFLs contain a small amount of mercury and should be disposed of properly, ideally recycled. Although household CFL bulbs may legally be disposed of with regular trash (in most US states), they are categorized as household hazardous waste. Because CFLs also help to reduce greenhouse gasses, other pollutants associated with electricity production, and landfill waste (because the bulbs last longer), they are clearly the environmental winner when compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs. EPA recommends that consumers take advantage of available local recycling options for compact fluorescent light bulbs. EPA is working with CFL manufacturers and major U.S. retailers to expand recycling and disposal options. Consumers can contact their local municipal solid waste agency directly, or go to www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling to identify local recycling options.

Take the Check Your Green Commitment Pledge at: http://origpledge.awardspace.com/
Resource: EPA Compact Flourescent Light bulbs http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls