This article is the first in a list of practical things you can do to save money on your monthly electric bill. Get some new green products, and maybe use the extra money to pay for a little vacation.

Replace Bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

The abbreviation for Compact Fluorescent Lamp is CFL, sometimes known as a circular fluorescent bulb.

A CFL does not generate light the way an incandescent bulbs does. Incandescent light bulbs have worked essentially the same way since Thomas Edison invented them. When electricity is connected to both sides of a carbon filament, it gets hot and produces light. In CFLs (as with the older fluorescent tubes), a closed glass tube is coated with a fluorescent coating that glows when a current is applied to the argon and mercury vapor inside.

You have heard this before, but unless you are only going to turn on that incandescent bulb a couple of times a year, you are wasting money (no matter how cheap the bulb is). Green products help you save money. One of the new Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) saves around 75% over an equivalent incandescent bulb. In one year, that could add up to a $30 savings – per bulb!

CFLs have been out several years now. Along with the bulb style, you can now choose the shade of white light you like. This can really enhance the mood of a room, home office or family room. The CFL colors vary from a warm yellow to daylight blue. If you prefer the look (color) of incandescent bulbs, choose a warm light.

Be aware that the daylight or bluer light often appears harsh and can have a negative effect on light sensitive people. You will notice they squint or avoid sitting/standing near this color light. If so just change it out for one of the warmer colors.

Look on the package for a number that ends in K. This stands for Kelvin or the “temperature” of the bulb. A Kelvin rating of 2700K-3000K is a warm/yellow bulb. A Cool White bulb has a rating of 3500K-4100K. A rating of 5000K-6500K is a Daylight blue bulb.

To replace a 40 watt incandescent bulb, use a 9-13 watt CFL bulb; for a 60 watt incandescent bulb use a 13-15 watt; for a 75 watt incandescent bulb use an 18-25 watt CFL; and for a 100 watt incandescent bulb, use a 23-30 watt CFL.

Please do not forget to recycle all compact fluorescent bulbs. In some states, the law forbids the disposal of any bulbs containing mercury in the regular solid waste trash. There are about five milligrams of mercury in one CFL bulb, or about 1/5 the of mercury found in a normal wrist-watch battery.

When recycling your old CFL green products, places like ACE Hardware, Orchard (OSH), Home Depot and IKEA will accept and properly dispose of the old CFL bulb.

For decorative lights, consider choosing Energy Star qualified light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The LED units are great green products and use up to 90% less energy than an equivalent incandescent bulb to produce the same amount of light. I have been told that the power required to burn a single seven-watt incandescent bulb could power up to 140 LEDs! So wherever you used incandescent bulb in the past, replace them with a new CFL, and for outside lighting use the new LED decorative lights. This will save you money and reduce your carbon footprint.

One of the next green products will look at is small appliance power supplies.

Michael

If you're interested in making your own power at home, then why don't you Try Earth4Energy For Free? Also, have a look at our in-depth Earth4Energy Review. Thanks for visiting!

• Why Americans Need To Pay More Attention To Green Energy Although Americans tend to travel less than people in other countries and often speak only one language, we have always been concerned with the way the world sees us. Yes, the stereotype of the ugly American is one most try to live down when traveling overseas. But recently Americans......
• What is Solar Energy? by Walter Hull The Sun is like a giant power station, making solar energy for us each and every day. Without this daily dose of solar power, Earth would not be even close to the same. Literally the difference would be like night and day. The term solar energy is......
• Reduce Monthly Electricity Costs on Lighting by Steve Brodie If you want to save money on your power bills this DIY cut monthly electricity costs article is going to show you some great and practical ways. You and your family could enjoy some new green products or even a small vacation. CFL is what's called a......
• Solar And Wind Power Residential Systems: Are They Worth It? by Jim Martin We live in a time when alternative is going mainstream. Solar power has many applications and is widely considered as an important source of alternative energy, along with other such variants as wind power and hydel power. Wind power, a popular alternative energy, dates back to the......
• Have You Overlook An Important Area When Saving Energy? One of the areas that seems the least understood when using green products is the "carbon footprint". To illustrate this point about green products, a simple story about the use of CFL (Compact Florescent Lamp) bulbs may help. When in a restaurant the other day, I noticed that the......

• 25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler, Part 3 With the summer temperatures already here off and on, cool is definitely on our minds. This article on MSN.com, 25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler, will help to tame the heat waves without a monster utilities bill. Today we continue a five-part series with some little cool things......
• The quiet lie: California Renewable Energy Initiative If you live in California, no doubt you have seen the ads touting Prop. 78, which aims to reduce gas use over the next 10 years. If you have seen those ads, then I am sure you have seen the ads AGAINST Prop.78...and they do seem to make sense. Until......
• When Should You Upgrade Your Lights? Everyone who wants to save money and reduce energy consumption should inspect their home since many houses have old light fixtures which are in dire need of updating. However, many ask about when the best time to upgrade lights is. Actually, lighting needs to be brought up to date......
• How Efficient are CFL Bulbs? A Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulb is now the lighting source of choice for households and for good reason.  In the philosophy of saving energy they line up nicely with current sentiments about green living and benefits for the planet. Some might not be aware of what these bulbs are......
• The Benefits of using CFL Lighting 25 percent of a regular home electrical budget is sadly spent only on lighting as a result of using incandescent style light bulbs, which are wholly inefficient. Typical light bulbs can cost between 5 and 10 times their own cost in electricity despite their relatively short period of life. However,......