Five Percent: Conserve Energy

Have you been dissatisfied with CFL (compact fluorescent) light bulbs? You’re not alone!

I have found and tested a number of bulbs and found several specific bulbs that I believe solve most of the issues people have had with CFL bulbs. I have tried a lot of bad bulbs, but the winners are GE Energy Smart CFL bulbs. There are a few in this line that are not good, but I have tested each of the ones below.

There are a few things to keep in mind about what to expect from CFL bulbs. See below for more details, but first, my recommendations!

My Recommended Best CFL Bulbs (updated 10/2010)

Brand	Model	Style	As Bright As	Comments	Manufacturer Info/Picture	Where To Buy
GE	15517	Standard Bulb, Spiral	100W	Bright, but a little bigger than a regular 100W incandescent	GE Lighting 100W CFL	Amazon
GE	15516	Standard Bulb, Spiral	75W	Good for replacing 60W if brightness is a concern	GE Lighting 75W CFL	Amazon
GE	24685	3-Way Bulb, Spiral	50/100/150W	Considerably larger than a regular bulb; didn’t fit in one of the table lamps I tried, with longer warm-up time, but it’s good for our application	GE Lighting 50/100/150 Spiral CFL	Amazon
GE	47487	Glass Covered	60W – 75W	Shaped like a regular bulb, so good for spring-clip shades. Recommend 75W or more for reading	GE Lighting 60W A Shape	Amazon
GE	47486	Standard Bulb, “A” type, pear shape	40W	Another pear-shaped bulb, even less bright, but very nice for ambiance. Good for ceiling fans or ceiling fixtures with two bulbs	GE Lighting 40W A-Shaped	Google Search
GE	47483	Outdoor Floodlight	90W	Nice and bright, and withstands moisture, etc.	GE Lighting Outdoor Flood	Amazon

Also Available in Stores

These bulbs are also available widely at local retailers like Walgreen, Walmart and many others. Bulb costs generally run about $7 — more for higher wattages or specialty bulbs, and are available in 3-packs and 6-packs in some cases.

I encourage you to buy from Amazon through the link below, as I get a little commission for bulbs (or anything else you purchase) when you click this link. It helps me pay the bills for my web server :-)
GE EnergySmart Bulbs from Amazon.com
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I have a product, known variously as the “centometer”, “cent-o-meter”, “cent-a-meter”, “powercost monitor” and “power cost meter”. It shows your electrical consumption in dollars and cents on a little display you can put where you like. Your electrical use is no longer “out of sight, out of mind”.

Update: 3/10/2009 — the same unit is now being sold under the Black and Decker label.

And boy does it work!

I bought one and installed it, and, having received our first electricity bill since then, can confidently say that it will pay for itself in less than a year. Maybe a lot faster than that!

Update, 2009: Oh yeah, a LOT more quickly than a year!!

Where To Buy The Cent-a-Meter

I’ll call it the Cent-o-meter, because the TV show Wa$ted used that name. The model I got is officially called the PowerCost Meter, and I purchased it at the TerraPass Store for $134. Update, 2009 — BlueLine’s PowerCost Monitor is now available for about $100 at Energy Circle’s store (more…)

I am on a mission to find only top quality CFL bulbs that won’t disappoint. (Update 9/08: Mission accomplished; see my CFL Review here)

Why? There are a lot of really bad CFLs out there. This is probably why most of my friends and family who aren’t quite as, um, obsessive as I about this kind of thing have given it a good try, but been sorely disappointed.

So I am still on a mission, and will report back in a while, but until then, I did find one site that lists a number of different bulbs with honest assesments, and actually has CFL reviews by real people. (more…)

The Smart Strip power-saving surge protector will pay for itself in 6 months (for me) and probably less than a year for a typical computer setup. Or home theater setups. This is one of the best $35 I could spend. I plan to buy two more; one for Theresa’s computer and one for our TV/Stereo setup.

I do have an important tip for laptop users that solves a problem others have reported.

Review: Smart Strip Model LCG3, by Bits Unlimited

The power strip is well designed and clever in several ways. (more…)

My lawn is beginning to turn green. Several years ago I realized that I could have a green lawn, with very little effort, much less energy used, and no smell or nasty chemicals. Oh, and I also saved a ton of money.

Lawn Aerator Shoes

It’s hard to say if aerating my lawn by walking over it with spiked plates strapped to my shoes was helpful. It was not hard to do, involved a very small cost for the shoes, and did not result in noise or stench from gas-powered equipment. All I know is, my lawn was nice and green for the last several years.

Rechargeable Electric Mower Review

The electric (battery) lawn mower is awesome. It is quiet, effective, and has way more juice than I need to mow my suburban lawn. It doesn’t stink, and charges in a short time, after which it’s ready to go for the next time I need to mow. I highly recommend a battery electric mower for anyone inclined to get rid of their gasoline model. It’s a better change for the environment, too (gas mowers, like most small gas motors, are terribly inefficient and spew forth great amounts of greenhouse gasses.

I set the mowing height to 3 inches, which is pretty long but still makes for a nice, lush lawn. Better yet, this means I mow very infrequently, and there’s plenty of room for the clippings to fall in between. All that nice organics material falls back into the ground, traps moisture, and I don’t have to rake or bag clippings. The lawn also grows more slowly, so in the last few years, I mowed maybe 8 times total.

Best Organic Fertilizer for Your Lawn

Because most of the organic material is going back into the lawn as compost, you need very little fertilizer, and maybe no weed killer. The lawn is robust enough to keep down most of the weeds (I do pull a few dandelions and crabgrass by hand, but not a lot). So a little organic fertilizer in spring is enough to give the grass a great boost.

Don’t Water Your Lawn Too Much

Last year, I didn’t use my underground automatic sprinkler system at all. This was not a great idea, since it was a very dry summer; I should have watered a few times. As a result, I now need to resurrect one patch of lawn, and I am pretty sure our shrubs and flowering trees would have been more able to fend off pests with just a little watering.

The grass itself does better if you cut it long (see above). The beds do well with mulch, but still, a little water when needed goes a long way.

On the bright side, my water bill went way (way!) down. Keep an eye on the moisture level of the soil, and water only when necessary. Two years ago, I needed no extra water; last year I should have given a little. It depends.

But watering every day, or other day, or more is totally unnecessary, and incredibly expensive. A lot of water once every few weeks (if nature doesn’t provide) is much more effective.

Best Landscaping Services

It’s a little work, but doing your own landscaping and gardening is good exercise and very easy if you follow some basic rules.

I no longer have any gas powered equipment. I shoveled my driveway all winter, eschewing the snow blower in favor of a good old shovel. It snowed a lot this winter, and it wasn’t that hard.

I especially hate the whiny leaf blowers used by landscapers, mainly. They are noisy, smelly, useless, and terrible in all ways. Just rake! It’s far better for the lawn, too.

Ride a Bike To Work

I am back on my bike again, commuting to work, now that the roads and weather are more benign. It’s good for my muscles, and good for the environment, and reduces congestion, and takes less time. And my wife likes what it does for my legs.

There are many, many small ways you can upgrade from the old way of doing things we never though about. These are just a few. What changes have you made?

My whole family is very impressed with the Evolve Roadrunner shower head. Evolve Roadrunner provides a very, very nice shower experience that is comparable to regular shower heads. To my surprise, I really like the “ShowerStart” feature.

And yes, the Roadrunner also uses a lot less water than typical shower heads, although you would never know it. We recommend the Roadrunner. If you’re worried about the price, don’t: the payback could be a lot faster than you think.

Greenwashing, or Washing Green?

A few weeks ago, I was bashing this company’s marketing message (more…)

Our Favorite

Not to be outdone by GreenGear’s high-tech bathroom videography, I made my very own movie using a digital camera which you can view below. I should have shaved, and who knew I had such a big bald spot on my head. Oh, and next time I’ll brush my hair. (more…)

I purchased a Delta water saving 1.6 GPM shower head. It is not a good bet. See this good review at GreenGear, and I added a comment describing the painful needles that sting into your back and face. Ah, engineering at its finest. I’ll try something else and report back

Lawn Aerator shoes work well.

You might call them lawn aerator shoes or aerator sandals or even lawn aeration shoes but the maker of my new Bond Green Giant Spiked Shoes^TM did a good thing. I read several reviews of spiked aerator sandals and found mixed reviews.

My review is not mixed: they are good. I paid a whopping $16.99 from Clean Air Gardening for this lawn care equipment, and compared to the cost of pretty much anything else you might use to take care of the grass, this purchase was a bargain. In 15 minutes, I had done a thorough job of our back 40; tomorrow I’ll do the front. (more…)

Rechargeable Lawn Mower

But I am now faced with a moral dilemma. (more…)