Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Saving Energy and Money By Switching To GE Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

I am thrilled that so many people today are embracing the idea of living a life that is more "green".
I think we all want to do our share to help sustain our beautiful earth to ensure it's health for future generations.

One important way is to better manage our resources, including energy. Saving energy is great for our planet, and we can also find ways to save ourselves money at the same time.

I have been very concerned about the rising costs of my electricity bills in the last few years. They get higher every year, and I finally felt it was time to do something about it. How could I use less energy and save money at the same time? I found out that switching my old light bulbs to GE Energy Efficient bulbs would make an impact on my electric bill, and that I could start saving money right away!


So I went to Walmart to buy my new GE light bulbs. GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start bulbs are not like the old fluorescent lighting. New GE Hybrid Technology allows these bulbs to achieve full brightness and light the instant you turn them on. They use 75% less energy than regular bulbs and are guaranteed to last 5 years. That impressed me. And how many times have you had to pull out a ladder or chair to change a bulb on the ceiling? You certainly will be changing your bulbs far less frequently with these!


When I first walked into the lighting aisle at Walmart, I was a little overwhelmed by all the light bulb choices. I was used to buying the plain old incandescent bulb, and usually the ones that were on sale. But they burned out quickly and certainly didn't save any energy or money.

It took a few minutes to figure out all the GE Lighting bulbs and what I needed. I was so impressed that GE offers CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs) in so many different shapes and sizes, and that there is one for almost every fixture in your home.




Every bulb tells you specifically where to use it. This was so helpful in deciding which bulbs to buy. GE Lighting also tells you the wattage brightness, and the actual amount of wattage energy that will be used to give you the same amount of light. Using less energy is allowing us to keep more money in our pockets. Each package also tells you the amount of money you will save by using that bulb.



These are all the CFL light bulbs that I bought and I'm excited to go home and start replacing the old ones with these.

There are also lots of other ways to save energy and money. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Obviously, turn off the lights when you leave the room. But also only turn on the lights you really need. There are sometimes lots of lights turned on in the room where I am reading or watching TV that aren't even needed.

2. Only run your dishwasher when it's fully loaded. All that hot water takes a lot of energy to heat.

3.Use cold water to wash your clothes. Again, try to only do full loads to save energy and water.

4. Unplug all unused appliances and electronics. They are a huge energy drain. Even your plugged in battery charger for your cell phone is costing you money.

5. In the summertime, if you can, open all your windows early in the morning to let in all that cool air. This will make your house less hot and then you won't have to use the air-conditioner as much.

GE is making it easy to save money on light bulbs and even added a little humor. Watch the GE Lighting Video below for a fun way to think about saving money.






By replacing the General purpose lights in my home like overhead lighting, lamps and recessed lighting bulbs the GE Energy Smart Saving Calculator estimates I can save around $150 a year! I am sure even more as I find more lights in the home to switch to GE. The Savings Calculator is easy to use, give it a try and see how much you can save.



Here are the new Energy Smart Bright From the Start light bulbs that I am going to put up in that light fixture.  These bulbs are labeled for "General Purpose", meaning that you can use them anywhere that you would have used the old incandescent light bulbs. They don't look too much different from the incandescent and I know they will be saving so much energy. It feels so good to be more frugal about my electric bill. Maybe I'll spend the savings I will have on buying my grandsons something special. Great idea! #GELighting



I have put the bulbs in and now I just need to put the glass cover back on. Happily, I won't have to change these for 5 whole years!



One of the lamps with the new bulb put in. It doesn't look any different to me, but I know the money and energy I am saving with the new GE light bulbs is significant. I am so happy I have done this and look forward to seeing my electric bill be less.


You can read my Google+ Story about my shopping trip to Walmart in an effort to be more frugal with my energy bill by purchasing GE Lighting products.


GE and Walmart have teamed together to offer a $2 off coupon for when you buy your GE Lighting products. Click on the coupon below to save.




I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric #GELighting http://www.collectivebias.com/
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2 comments

Jen @ BigBinder said...

Yay for saving money!!

Anonymous said...

This is great! Thanks for the share.

Cathy
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