I was tasked with purchasing four 40 watt light bulbs for the new floor lamp my lovely bride just knew (correctly) would make a huge improvement to our family room decor.
So off to Home Depot I go. There I found Compact Fluorescent bulbs with the “soft white” equivalent light output of a 40 watt incandescent bulb, but only use 9 watts of electricity. Sounds good so far, but they’re not for use with a dimmer. And 4 bulbs cost $15.00. Ouch.
I also found four “soft white” incandescent 38 watt bulbs which of course use 38 watts of electricity and can be dimmed. 4 bulbs cost $0.99 No joke. $0.25 each.
How long would it take to earn back the additional $14 in saved electricity from the reduced electricity used by the more expensive, non-dimming, toxic-mercury containing light bulbs? Is this what people refer to as the “green economy”? 14 times the price for an inferior product just to save a few watts of juice?