Until recently the design of energy saving lights was quite unattractive to a lot of people. While many of these are still on the market, there are many new designs that are much more aesthetically pleasing and, in many cases, more compact. In fact, some styles are becoming indistinguishable from traditional incandescent light bulbs.

It’s important to remember also that if the energy saving light bulb is used in a covered fitting (like a lamp shade or ceiling dome) then it is the light output that is important and it doesn’t matter what shape the bulb is.

Because there’s a huge range of choice, from spot lights to decorative candles, energy efficient bulbs can be used in a wide range of fittings. Energy saving lights fit most applications including ones with covers, like lamps with shades.

Save money with energy saving lights
While standard incandescent lights cost only around $1, they typically last for only 1,000 hours and use significantly more energy. A good quality compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) costing around $5 should last between 6,000 and 15,000 hours while an efficient halogen spotlight costing $10 for should last 5,000 hours and a fluorescent tube costing around $9 should last 15,000 hours.

While energy efficient light bulbs are more expensive to buy at the counter, traditional incandescent light bulbs burn far more electricity and they don't last long by comparison. Therefore, buying efficient bulbs saves you money – over $100 over the lifetime of a 20W CFL replacing a 100W incandescent.

Quality energy saving lights have long lives
Choose a good quality CFL (ideally a brand you trust and a bulb rated to last at least 6,000 hours) and it should last some 6 times as long as a standard incandescent light bulb (some CFLs are now rated up to 15,000 hours).

New generation halogen bulbs last twice as long as standard incandescent bulbs and the high efficiency IRC halogen spotlights last 5,000 hours compared to a standard halogen spotlights only rated to last 2,000 hours.

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