I too like to use CFLs in most places, but not eve...

2008-03-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

I too like to use CFLs in most places, but not everywhere.

In your post you said:

"I've even been having the following thought this past few months: is it possible that the "waste" heat from Halogens and Incandescents actually cancel out lower heating bills, when used in cool climates?"

Generally speaking, the answer would be yes if the heating was provided by electrical resistance heating, or an electric furnace, or by natural gas (at times when the energy cost of natural gas is about equal to the energy cost of electricity). On the other hand if heating is provided by a heat pump, a heat pump can produce more than 1 watt of heat from 1 watt of electricity.

Also consider that in the summer, the additional heat load from the light bulbs has to be carried away by air conditioning.

Good post and coverage on the issue. There are two...

2008-03-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

Good post and coverage on the issue. There are two other concerns:
The hazards of the new bulbs given the addition of mercury (in some). I don't want a superfund site if I drop a bulb - let alone handle disposal.
There is a noise build up post transformers (i.e gets worse for homes in series) that can interfere with products that use current amplification communication. Most people see this in increased noise of baby monitors but it can affect other things (like well pumps that use a powered communication unit).
Great blog though!

Comments on Nerdblog.com: lumens/watt

I too like to use CFLs in most places, but not eve...

Good post and coverage on the issue. There are two...