How Much Could You Save?
In Montana, the average cost of electricity was $0.08/kWh as of May, 2006. The following table shows how much you could save by replacing up to 5 standard incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) models.
|
1
|
110
|
9.06
|
10.16
|
11.25
|
12.35
|
13.45
|
|
2
|
220
|
18.12
|
20.31
|
22.51
|
24.71
|
26.90
|
|
3
|
329
|
27.18
|
30.47
|
33.76
|
37.06
|
40.35
|
|
4
|
439
|
36.23
|
40.63
|
45.02
|
49.41
|
53.80
|
|
5
|
549
|
45.29
|
50.78
|
56.27
|
61.76
|
67.25
|
Assumptions
-
All prices are in $/kWh (dollars per kilowatt hour).
-
Calculations assume you replace 100W incandescent bulbs with 25W CFL bulbs and
that each bulb is in use for 4 hours per day on average.
What this means
Based on the average cost of electricity in Montana as of May, 2006, you could save approximately $45.29 per year if you replaced five (5) 100W standard incandescent lightbulbs with five (5) 25W compact fluorescent (CFL) lightbulbs.
Good for you. Good for the environment
As you can see, you can save money by changing a few lightbulbs. Not only that, you'll help save the environment as well.
According to EPA estimates from 2003, about 1.43 lbs of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) is released in the production of 1 kWh of electricity.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
|
1
|
110
|
157.0
|
0.01
|
0.02
|
|
2
|
220
|
314.0
|
0.03
|
0.04
|
|
3
|
329
|
471.0
|
0.04
|
0.06
|
|
4
|
439
|
628.1
|
0.05
|
0.09
|
|
5
|
549
|
785.1
|
0.07
|
0.11
|
What this means
By replacing 5 standard incandescent lightbulbs with 5 compact fluorescent bulbs, you could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 785 lbs of CO2 each year.
That's equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 0.07 average passenger cars.
Imagine the Possibilities
As you can see, changing a few lightbulbs makes sense for you and for the environment. There are about 358,667 households in Montana. Imagine if each household changed 5 lightbulbs. Here's what that would mean.
|
|
| Air Pollution Reduction (lbs of CO2): |
281,578,691 |
| Air Pollution Reduction Equivalence (number of cars removed from the road for a year): |
24,358 |
| Air Pollution Reduction Equivalence (acres of forest): |
38,399 |