Not So Green

Eric • 23rd Feb 2007 • Energy

According to 18seconds.org, NY State isn’t very green – we rank 45 out of the 50 states. Worse, the WNY area is one of the least “green” areas in NY State.

Granted, you have to be real tolerant to put up with LED lights. I can deal with them, but Laura’s cursing under her breath. But the CFL lights look great, IMO. If you recall, we’re switching our house over to CFLs & LEDs.

Some households won’t switch because of the upfront cost… it’s like $2 – $3 per bulb, instead of $0.60. But you save money every month on your energy bill, and the bulbs last longer.

What if there was a program which pays for and replaces all of your bulbs for you – choosing the best bulbs for your situation. In addition, it monitors your past 4 electric bills, gets an average, or looks at last year’s bill, to figure out what your bill “should be” in a given month. So say you replace 18, 60-watt bulbs, costing you $34.92 (buy at WalMart). At $0.10 kilowatt / hr, you’ll save $9.85 per month. In 3-1/2 months, the bulbs are paid for.

So, if there was a government-sponsored program, where the upfront cost of the bulbs are covered, even at a crazy 24% APR, you could pay this off in 4 months! Then… there’s money in your pocket.

Now, I’m sure there’d be all sorts of fraud in this system, but I’m sure there’s a way to do it.