Can someone please help me? I’m in the dark here.
Not literally, of course, but I am having trouble seeing the light.
After purchasing a condominium, we decided it would be a good idea to upgrade the standard light bulbs for energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights.
After all, the word on the Internet is CFLs are four times more efficient, last 10 times longer and use up to 80 per cent less energy than incandescent bulbs.
I know in our old house, we only had to change four energy-efficient bulbs in six years.
So, who wouldn’t want that? We’ll do our part for old planet Earth.
But as Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s not easy being green”.
Turns out switching incandescent bulbs for CFLs on a dimmer system is a whole different kettle of fish.
Even though our condo is only a couple years old, it doesn’t have the latest technology when it comes to saving the environment.
“How can it not be up to date? It’s only three years old,” we argued.
“Think about it,” said the clerk at the do-it-yourself store. “Is a developer going to invest in the latest dimmer switches or buy a bunch of cheapies at a huge discount?”
I guess there’s ‘green’ in terms of the environment and there’s ‘green’ in terms of saving cash.
So if we want CFLs – and not just any CFLs, but those compatible with dimmer switches – we have to dish out a little over $100 for one three-bulb system on the dimmer.
The catch is, we have three, three-bulb dimmer systems in the condo.
I’m all for saving the environment. We composted (though compostable bags are not all they’re promoted to be, either) and used the city’s green bins at our old home. And every bit of food scrap that can possibly go down the condo’s garburator is ground up instead of heading to the landfill.
We separate plastic, paper, cardboard, metal and newspaper, and make the run to the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange to dispose of Styrofoam, glass and yard waste.
But the only ‘green’ I would get from forking over more than $300 just to switch nine incandescent bulbs to CFLs is nausea.
As it was, we dished out close to $70 to replace the non-dimmer bulbs with CFLs.
I’ll say it again. They (and I have no idea who they are) do not make it easy to do the right thing.
Energy-efficient windows, energy-efficient cars and green-wash products all cost more. Often lots more.
And when you do the math to figure out how long it’s going to take to break even, it gives you cause to wonder if it’s worth it.
Yes, the technology is new and therefore costly. Yes, the manufacturers of such products need to make a living. And yes, I should stop being such a cheapskate, think about being in it for the long haul and imagine the positives that will come out of being ‘green’.
But like so many ‘green’ projects, the public has a “what’s-in-it-for-me” attitude and some incentives have to be dished out before anyone gets on board. Toilets and woodstoves are the first things that come to mind.
I don’t want anything for free, but I don’t want to be taken to the cleaners, either.
With the CFL for incandescent bulb switch we did make, I have enough now for our dimming systems to last a few years.
Technology can be a wonderful thing, but it can be an inhibitor as well. The trouble with waiting for the costs to go down is the item usually becomes obsolete as a newer, more efficient model comes on the market.
But the price reflects the new technology, and like it or not, most people will go with a less expensive model because you can use it until it wears out, send it to the landfill and get another for less money than the more efficient model.
We live in a disposable world that is killing the environment, but doing the right thing for our planet is not easy.
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