Bulbs Are Changing – Ace Will Light the Way

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Yikes!  In less than a week it will be 2012…where did the year go?!  Are you planning on making any changes in your life and/or home in 2012? 

Did you know that beginning in January, the way homeowners light their homes will change?

Effective in January 2012, manufacturers will no longer make the traditional 100-watt incandescent light bulb because the 130-year old technology doesn’t meet new energy efficiency standards.  Those standards require that bulbs provide the same amount of light but with at least a 30% energy savings.

Many homeowners are unaware or confused by the news, as I was when I first heard about it.  My husband and I actually did a lot of research because we didn’t quite understand and thought you wouldn’t be able to buy incandescent bulbs at all anymore.  While the stores won’t stock new packages of the 100-Watt incandescent bulbs after Jan.1, 2012, for a couple of years you’ll still be able to get the 75, 60 and 40 watt bulbs.  But now is a great time to change your bulbs in favor of CFLs (compact florescent), LEDs (ligh-emitting diode) and energy-efficient halogen light bulbs.

Here’s where some homeowners find it difficult to transition – we’ve become used to recognizing the brightness of a light by watts – the amount of power that it uses.  The more energy-efficient bulbs are measured in lumens.  They provide the same light but use less electricity.

It’s interesting to see the difference in the efficiency.  A 40 watt incandescent bulb, a 29 watt halogen, an 11 watt CFL and a 9 watt LED will all emit about the same light (which is equivalent to about 450 lumens).  With that you’ll see the LED will save the most money in electricity and last the longest, but will cost the most when purchasing.

I received an assortment of GE energy-efficient light bulbs from Ace, to help my family to get our lighting transition underway.  Some Compact Florescents and some low watt Halogens.

A lot of people have shied away from switching to CFLs because of the expense.  And it’s true they are quite a bit more costly than a regular incandescent bulb.  Over the life of the CFL though, you’ll save up to 75% on energy costs and they last much longer than an incandescent bulb as well.  So they do pay for themselves, you just have an initial cost for them.

We’ve been using CFLs in our home for quite a number of years already, but the GE Halogen Bulbs we received from Ace were new to us.  Not long ago we purchased dimmable florescent bulbs for the light fixture in our office.  I don’t know if the bulbs were not a great quality or if the wiring in our light is faulty, but we were not happy with them.  They seemed to do a lot of flickering unless you turned the light up to full brightness, which of course defeats the purpose of having a dimmable light.

My husband changed out those bulbs with the new Halogen ones we received, and we are very pleased with the lighting we get from them.  They work well with the dimmer switch and it’s great to know that they are about 50% more efficient than regular incandescent light bulbs and will last up to 3 times as long too.

With an extensive lighting portfolio and helpful associates to guide homeowners to the right bulbs for their home, Ace is here to light the way.  They’ll help you have a safe and bright new year!

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