If every household in Queensland replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be the same as taking more than 42,000 vehicles off the road.

Energy-efficient lighting will help you save on your power bill and help our environment.

Compact fluorescent lights and fluorescent tubes are the most energy- and cost-effective lighting alternative for your home.

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are fluorescent tubes shaped to fit an ordinary light fitting.

They save energy by reducing the wattage needed in a light fitting while producing the same amount of light.

Changing one 60W light bulb to an 11W CFL can save $16 per year off your electricity bill.

CFLs last from 6000 to 15000 hours, 6 to 15 times longer than incandescent light bulbs and use about one fifth of the energy.

In February this year, Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the Federal Government will phase out incandescent light bulbs over the next three years. So now is a good time to start changing to CFLs.

Lights are a better lighting alternative; however they use nearlyas much energy as an incandescent light bulb and generate a lot of heat.

Halogen lights are often used as downlights and spotlights but indoor halogen lights are not suitable to light large areas because of their ‘focussing’ effect.

There is a misconception that low voltage halogen
Have you ever walked around your home at night with all of the lights off? All those little red dots of light coming from your electronic appliances are the most obvious indication that your home is using standby power. Even if there is no light on, your appliances may be using standby power if they are plugged in and turned on at the wall.
Standby power is the power used by an appliance when it isn’t performing a primary function. Examples of appliances and the standby power they use are:
Microwaves, which often have a display clock
Televisions, Video and DVD players, which await a signal from a remote to begin operating
Computer monitors, which enter sleep mode while the computer is inactive or waiting for a computer to power up
Cordless phones, which are constantly sending radio waves to the phone to see if it is being used
Air conditioners, which are awaiting input from a remote before operating
Standby power generates greenhouse gases and can account for around 4% of your power bill.

Driving the old bulbs off shop shelves by 2009 will be achieved by increasingly tightening the restrictions on what is legal, thereby forcing manufacturers to invest in the new technology.
Householders will also have to change their habits in other ways. They will no longer be able to throw old bulbs out in the rubbish.
Consumers will also find that the new bulbs take longer to switch on, that their light is less warm and that they do not work with dimmer switches.
But with the money savings achievable and this small incovenience is nothing considering, household can help redruce our footprint on the environment.

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