One of the easiest way to save money at home is by making sure that you are NOT using incandescent bulbs around your house or apartment. Yes, the more energy efficient bulbs are more expensive upfront, but their long lifespan ensures you will end up saving money in the long run.What types or bulbs should I get? That's an easy one for now. CFL or compact-fluorescent bulbs are now not that much more than incandescent bulbs. For example, I light most of our apartment with Ikea's CFLs. They are cheap and just as good as the major lighting brands. My favorite CFL bulb at Ikea is the 11 Watt Sparsam, which comes in a 3-pack for $4.99. There is also the up-and-coming LED bulb technology. It's still a very nascent technology, at least when it comes to household lighting needs. Ikea currently only sells one LED bulb called the Ledare for $9.99. It's energy needs and output ratio is remarkable: 150 Lumen for 3.5 Watts, but the output isn't suitable for typing household lighting needs (60 Watt incandescent's output is 890 Lumens). To spur growth and development in the LED lighting industry, the US Department of Energy even ran a competition called the L Prize for manufacturers to develop an LED bulb with the same dimensions and light output as a typical 60 Watt incandescent bulb. Philips won the prize with their LED Bulb.Below is an inforgraphic from Lamps.com that offers some insight in to the longterm energy and monetary benefits of using energy efficient lighting:Entry Tags: Electronics, Home & Garden, Home Improvement
