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CFL 'show and tell' promotes 'Light Switch'
 They're sometimes called "swirls," but compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) now come in a variety of shapes and styles. And colors. There are floodlight CFLs, chandelier CFLs, dimmable CFLs, yellow "bug" lights CFLs — even "party light" and black light CFLs.
Lindsey Smith has seen them all.
Smith, director of member & public relations for The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), will be at York Electric Cooperative's Annual Meeting May 10 for a CFL show-and-tell of sorts.
ECSC, the statewide association of electric co-ops, is assisting member coops such as York Electric Cooperative in introducing the Do the Light Switch campaign. As part of the Do the Light Switch effort, York Electric and 19 other independent, consumer-owned cooperatives in South Carolina will distribute seven million CFLs to co-op members over 10 years.
 ECSC, the statewide association of electric co-ops, is assisting member coops such as York Electric Cooperative in introducing the Do the Light Switch campaign. As part of the Do the Light Switch effort, York Electric and 19 other independent, consumer-owned cooperatives in South Carolina will distribute seven million CFLs to co-op members over 10 years.
"The bulbs co-op members will receive in the mail from their co-op are 20-watt and 23-watt CFLs, which produce roughly the same amount of light as 75- and 100-watt incandescent bulbs," Smith notes. "This is a general-use bulb, good for many places around the home and perfect for shaded lamps and hanging indoor fixtures."
 At the co-op's annual meeting, Smith will have a digital meter that shows how CFLs use less energy than incandescent bulbs. "We switch on a single 60-watt incandescent bulb and the meter's digital display shows it pulling about 60 watts — sometimes a little more. Then, we switch off the incandescent and switch on four 13-watt CFLs all at once. The digital reading shows the four CFLs together use about 51 watts of power. That's impressive, especially when you consider that each 13-watt CFL produces about the same amount of light as a single 60-watt incandescent."
As for the black lights and party lights, Smith says they're basically attention getters. "These particular bulbs are not Energy Star-qualified, but we figure they show how, today, there's a CFL for almost any need."
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