Electric company gives away CFLs to reduce energy usage

Lavern Golden, left, receives a compact florescent light bulb and a brochure about CFLs from Empire District employee Emily Stanley on Thursday. Empire District gave away complimentary CFLs and other energy-saving tips to their energy customers in Gentry on Wednesday to encourage them to use the energysaving bulbs and reduce their energy consumption and save on their electric bills.
Lavern Golden, left, receives a compact florescent light bulb and a brochure about CFLs from Empire District employee Emily Stanley on Thursday. Empire District gave away complimentary CFLs and other energy-saving tips to their energy customers in Gentry on Wednesday to encourage them to use the energysaving bulbs and reduce their energy consumption and save on their electric bills.

— Empire District Electric Company is urging its customers to switch to compact florescent light bulbs and save on their utility bills. The company was giving away CFLs to customers in Gentry on Thursday to encourage them to try the new energy-saving bulbs.

According to an Empire District press release, lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of energy use in homes, and the new bulbs use 75 percent less energy than the conventional incandescent bulbs. Switching to CFLs could result in significant savings to customers, especially when viewed on a yearly basis. The new bulbs last up to 10 times longer and each bulb can save customers approximately $30 in electricity costs over the life of the CFL.

While the yellowish light of early CFLs discouraged many from making the switch, major advances have been made in the bulbs, including a variety of lighting temperatures with more pleasing results, according to Emily Stanley, corporate communications coordinator for Empire District.

CFLs now come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with different light output (measured in lumens) and varying light colors (measured on the Kelvin scale). The bulbs are available in warm white, soft white, cool white, bright white and naturalor daylight, according to a brochure passed out to customers at the CFL giveaway.

Because the new CFLs contain a small amount of mercury - about the size of a period in12-point type and far less than in older thermometers, Stanley said - many customers have been concerned about safe disposal of the bulbs.

Lowes, Home Depot and some Ace Hardware stores have free recycling programs for the bulbs, Stanley said. Customers can take their used bulbs there for safe disposal. If thrown in the trash, Stanley said Empire is recommending they be closed in a zip-lockplastic bag as an added protection.

Why would an electric company promote energysaving CFLs? Because energy use continues to grow each year, Stanley said, and slowing that growth reduces the need to build more power plants and increasing energy costs for everyone.

Not only was Empire giving away free CFLs to customers, they were sharing information and providing a free booklet with other energy-saving tips to help customers save on their energy bills and reduce the need to construct more and more power plants to meetthe ever-growing need for energy.

Among those energy-saving tips shared were using power strips with on and off switches so that televisions, computers and electronic devices can also have power turned off to stop the constant drain of electricity to devices which are turned off at the unit rather than disconnected from power; unplugging battery chargers when not in use; not leaving televisions on when no one is watching; and, of course, using energy efficient appliances. Other materials were available with instructions for home energy-saving projects.

News, Pages 1 on 10/12/2011