beta
Join our story: invest in the DoNation
Light the way

Light the way

DoAction 35

Game offEat up
Switch to low energy bulbsDoers doing this DoAction have pledged to save: 2308 kg CO2
in

Spread the news

Light up your life with LED’s or Energy Saving bulbs. Incandescent bulbs have brightened our homes for the last 100 years, but these days there are better ways to become enlightened.

Swap your old filament or halogen bulbs for low power and long lasting LED’s or energy saving bulbs to reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint.

Why?

Convenience

Energy saving bulbs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, and LED’s last a whopping 25 times longer, so they only need changing once in a blue moon. How handy.

Climate change

Low energy bulbs use less power than conventional bulbs to achieve the same level of brightness, which means less electricity and less carbon in the atmosphere.

90%

energy is wasted as heat by a conventional bulb.1

And it takes less energy to manufacture energy saving bulbs and LED’s too. An all-round win for the planet.

 

Financial

Low energy bulbs might be a bit more expensive in the short term, but you’ll quickly earn your money back through lower electricity bills. Each halogen bulb you switch to an LED will save you around £4 per year or £70 by the time you have to replace the bulb[2]

How?

Bulb jargon busting:

  1. Filament bulbs: the old ones. They've been kicking about for over 100 years, and it’s time to move on…
  2. Halogen bulbs: mildly more efficient than filament bulbs,
  3. CFLs: Compact Fluorescent Lamps – the twizzley twisty energy saving ones.  They’ve massively improved over the last few years, and are the bulb of choice for most standard light fittings. But it’s hard to find ones for spotlights and the likes.
  4. LEDs: Welcome to the future. Super efficient and available in all sorts of specialist styles for all your fancy lighting needs. They are also available in a range of tones (not just dentist surgery white) and there are dimmable varieties too.

Where to buy them:

You can find CFLs in most high street shops or department stores, but LED’s are harder to come by. The Ethical Superstore has a great stock.

Want to do this action? Head over to our list of Doers to find someone to pledge for.

This DoAction was created by Natalie Scarfe. Want to create one yourself?
Email

 

1 - http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/lighting-choices-save-you-money

[2] http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Energy-Saving-Trust/Our-calculations