Shop smart for efficient lighting

It’s lights out for standard incandescent light bulbs. Due to failure to meet federal energy-efficiency regulations, the popular light bulbs will soon no longer be available.

Luckily, their replacements—compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and halogen-gas incandescent light bulbs—are more efficient and provide big savings on your energy bill.

Consider these tips as you shop.

Long-lasting savings

These once-pricey energy-efficient options will pay for themselves over time:

• Replacing 15 standard incandescent bulbs with high-efficiency bulbs can save you approximately $50 per year.
• ENERGY STAR^® certified bulbs last 10 to 25 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs. They use 75 per cent less energy and can save $40 to $135 on energy bills over their lifetime.

Important considerations

Brightness (in lumens), life expectancy of the bulb, estimated yearly energy costs, lamp colour temperature (warm or cool colour) and wattages are provided on the label of each bulb. Keep these top-of-mind when buying new bulbs:

Output

Get the most bang for your buck with bulbs that offer the needed brightness (measured in lumens) at the lowest wattage.

Fit

Many energy-efficient bulbs have different shapes than you may be used to. Familiarize yourself with the sizes of your current bulbs to make sure you purchase comparable ones that will fit inside the shade or glass in your current fixture.

Colour temperature

Consider the function of each light fixture. Is it used for task lighting or overall ambience? The number of Kelvins (K), which measures light colour, will help you determine which bulb is appropriate. A higher number (more than 5,000K) emits cool colours reminiscent of daylight, while lower numbers (starting at 2,700K) supply a warm, ambient glow similar to standard incandescent light bulbs.