Does one light bulb really make a difference?

I've already swapped out nearly every light bulb in my house for a compact florescent, but of course there's that "nearly". I figured I could go on a miniscule crusade to find just ONE MORE BULB to swap out. I found one.

This crucial little beauty is tucked behind a glass shield by the bathroom mirror. My roommate spends the most time in front of that bulb, and has a tendency to wander in and out of the bathroom in a ice-coffee-induced trance back to her computer for Just One More IM before she finishes her hair or brushing her teeth (or whatever other mystifying act she's performing). Of course, wandering in and out of the room does not require turning off said light. Even if aforementioned IM conversation becomes engrossing and takes up a half hour.




I swapped in a 26w in the place of a 60w bulb. If it's too bright, I can change it to a lower wattage bulb. That's a savings so far of 34w. If she uses the light for 2 hours a day (1 hour in the morning, 1 hour at night) for a whopping total of 72watt-hours a day that becomes 25KWH per year of savings. That's just savings from my roommate hogging the bathroom for 2 hours a day, not the entire family's use of that light.

On that savings alone, at the prices on my last (Orange & Rockland -- Orange county New York) bill: In a year I will save $1.39/year on the cost of the electricity and $2.01/year on the delivery of said electricity. A whopping $3.40/year savings on that one bulb, without counting any government surcharges. It doesn't seem like a lot, but since I've changed out about 18 bulbs in the house, if they're all only used 2 hours a day (most are used more, and some are lower wattage bulbs or were 100w bulbs swapped out to 26w bulbs - which saves 73w per bulb!) then I'm saving well over $61.20/year. That's definitely worth the cost of replacement, because some of those lights are on much more than 2 hours a day especially in the winter when the house is dark longer.

So, I can say for certain that YES, one light bulb does really make a difference. Please swap out your light bulbs today.