A lighter energy load
Tom Content reports on compact flourescent light bulbs in an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
At a time when Wisconsin’s home electricity prices rank 15th in the nation, residents can head to the local hardware store to help them save more than $60 a year on their energy bills.
Starting this week, Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program is pushing energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs at a cut-rate price.
The quest to encourage sales of the energy-efficient bulbs is joined this year by a new player: the nation’s largest retailer.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently announced that it wants to sell every one of its regular customers – 100 million in all – one of the bulbs with the distinctive swirl shape. The initiative, a partnership with General Electric Co., is a component of a new campaign by Wal-Mart to make its own stores more energy efficient and to encourage its suppliers to become more sensitive to energy use and environmental issues.
Focus on Energy, a statewide energy efficiency program funded through a fee added onto Wisconsin residents’ electricity bills, is offering $2 instant rebates on the bulbs, which use about one-quarter of the energy and last much longer than a comparable incandescent light bulb.
In Wisconsin, Focus on Energy estimates that if every household in the state would exchange five incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent, they would save more than $60 a year on energy costs. Over 10 years, the expected life of many of the Energy Star bulbs, the savings could total $541 million, according to Focus on Energy.
The program kicked off Sunday at participating retailers and runs through Nov. 30, or while supplies last.
Dave Rotter, co-president of National Ace Hardware, estimates that his three stores have sold 250,000 since the program started eight years ago, long before Menards and other chains started selling compact fluorescent light bulbs.
He doesn’t mind that Wal-Mart is moving into the energy-efficient lighting business.
“It’s the normal progression of a lot of products,” Rotter said. “The smaller stores will take on the new things and really make a market for it, and when the market’s made, the big guys get in and try to take a piece of it.”
More than 1 million of the compact fluorescent light bulbs have been sold each year in Wisconsin for the past three years.
At the same time, there’s room to do more, because a consultant hired to evaluate the light bulb campaign concluded that even with all those bulbs sold, just 19% of Wisconsin’s 2.1 million households have one in their home.
“There are still 81% of Wisconsin households out there that we need to encourage to make this change to Energy Star bulbs,” said Lynn Clement, Focus on Energy marketing manager. “We’ve still got a lot of people to get to.”
Concerns for buyers, sellers
The fact that so many households haven’t bought compact fluorescents means the product still faces obstacles, such as concerns about reliability, flickering and brightness.
Rotter and Clement say manufacturers have improved the quality of the bulbs each year.
What retailers are seeing is people coming in for different types of bulbs.
“One of my concerns is that instead of buying a light bulb once a year, they’re buying one that lasts eight to 10 years – so what’s it going to do to my light bulb sales eventually?” Rotter said. “But it’s still growing strong, and people are finding more uses. We’re doing more with specialty bulbs.”
Rotter says National Ace has new Energy Star offerings this year, including a bug light and a bulb for an outdoor lamppost. Compact fluorescent bulbs are now available for recessed lighting fixtures and lights with dimmer switches. Bulbs are now available that are shaped like conventional incandescent bulbs so that a lampshade can be attached to them, he said.
Bill Holland, Midwest field director with the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups and unions that is seeking a national investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy similar to the push for the Apollo space mission, said buying compact fluorescent light bulbs is more than just about saving on energy bills.
“Energy efficiency is the easiest and cheapest way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment. It’s the key first step,” he said. “Compact fluorescents are one of the easiest steps American consumers take to both improve the environment and lower their utility bills at the same time.”
