"Pete C." wrote in
ter.com:


Tegger wrote:


Apparently you have not done the math, or have made some mistakes:


60W equiv. 13W CFL, 8,000hr rated life, $1.58 ea (8pk)
60W incandescent, 1,000hr rated life, $0.6225 ea (8pk)



Last time I bought incandescents, they were 30¢ each for a pack of four.

Now that incandescents are to be phased out, prices are going up, but
that's an artificial increase.




CFL cost for 8,000 hours = $1.58
Incandescent cost for 8,000 hours = $4.98



Or $2.40 for the incandescents at the price I used to be able to pay.

And your numbers get thrown wholly out of whack if a few CFLs blow
before their rated lives, which I'm discovering is not an uncommon
occurrence.





CFL savings in lamp cost alone $3.40

CFL energy cost for 8,000 hrs at 13W (104kWh) at $0.15/kWh = $15.60
Incandescent cost for 8,000 hours at 60W (480kWh) at $0.15/kWh =
$72.00

CFL energy savings over 8,000 hours $56.40

Total CFL savings over 8,000 operating hours for one lamp = $59.80

Total CFL savings over the life of the 8 lamps in the package =
$478.40

If we presume that the 7 yr life listed for the 8,000 hr lamp life is
reasonable (it's about 3hrs/day), and the household has 8 lamps that
are used regularly (pretty average), the yearly savings of the CFLs
works out to $68.34 or $5.70 per month.

$5.70 per month doesn't sound like a whole lot,




That's the problem; it's a trivial amount (I give up one Starbuck's
latte a month and there's my $5.70 savings right there). Plus I get ugly
lighting unless I buy just the right kind of bulb; I need a special kind
to put upside down, a special kind for over the stove; you're not really
supposed to toss them out with the trash, etc., etc....

No thanks.


--
Tegger