Inconvenient Facts: Will Changing from Incandescent Light Bulbs to Neon Help the Environment?

No day passes now that we don't hear something having to do with global warming, especially now that Al Gore's film won an Academy Award. And what we hear mostly are all the dire things that are about to happen, accompanied by what we must do to turn the situation around. A fix that seems to appeal to the politicians and the public alike is switching from standard incandescent light bulbs to gas filled devices, usually neon. After all, it's easy to do, and it's simple enough that everyone can understand it. The recommendation, and in California it is being advanced as a state mandate, is said to be capable of saving millions of tons of carbon pollution from entering the environment and it will save consumers money, too.

Sounds good, but I am an electrical engineer, and, well, let's see what the facts are. How effective such a change, with its attendant cost to accomplish, will be depends on a number of factors, mainly where you live and the season of the year. The fact is that with only three exceptions, all the energy used to run the appliances that are inside the home is eventually transferred into the room in the form of heat - all of it - after the work of the appliance is done. That includes the lights, refrigerator, computers, electric fans, radios, TVs, etc. The exceptions are the hot water heater, because most of the heat from the hot water goes down the drain, the clothes dryer, which vents the heat outside, and the clothes washer, unless cold water is used for all the cycles.

If the home is in a northern climate, and it is the winter heating season, changing the light bulbs will have minimal effect on the amount of energy the house uses because the heat from the lights replaces heat from the heating system. In fact, that's true of all the appliances, save the three listed earlier. During the heating season, running the appliances really costs little or nothing. They generate useful heat for the home.