Five years ago, I wanted to do an experiment. The government passed a law that phases out incandescent light bulbs in favor of more efficient bulbs. They claimed at the time that the more efficient bulbs would save a homeowner money through lower energy costs, despite the fact that the newer bulbs were much more expensive. They claimed that this was due to the longer life of the lower energy bulbs.
So I set out to look at this issue, because I am a big geek like that.
There are 46 light bulbs required in my home. I replaced 25 of them with compact fluorescent bulbs.
19 of them were of the spiral variety. They currently cost $1.50 each. At the time that I originally bought them, they were more than $8 each. 4 of them burned out and had to be replaced during the five year test period. At today’s prices, this means that the 19 bulbs cost $34.50 over the five year test period.
6 of them were PAR lamps that were used as spotlights in the track lighting that illuminates the kitchen. These bulbs were quite expensive, costing $12 each at the time. They currently cost $4 apiece. Three of them burned out, for a total cost in today’s prices of $36.
During that same period, four of the remaining 21 incandescent bulbs had to be replaced. These bulbs cost 50 cents each, with a total cost of $12.50.
The total cost for fluorescent bulbs is $2.82 for each of the bulbs, factoring in the costs of replacement bulbs. They are not as long lived as the government claims, with about a third of them failing over the five year period.
The total cost for incandescent bulbs is 60 cents each.
The CFL bulbs use 18 watts of energy each. The incandescent bulbs use 60 watts. The price I pay for electricity is 12 cents per kilowatt hour.
This means that the difference in energy costs for outfitting my entire home with CFL bulbs would require me to run my every one of my 46 light fixtures for 3 hours per day each in order to break even. Of course, no one does that.
Conclusion
The only way that this becomes cost effective is if you only replace the lights in your home that are most frequently used. Closet and bathroom lights, which are used far less than lights in the living and bedrooms, are simply not used enough to justify the added costs of CFL bulbs.
Also, the costs and performance of the PAR type CFL bulbs make them a poor choice.
Here is a description of your job: You write down what I want, and
then someone else prepares it. You pick up what I asked for (that
someone else prepared) and bring it to my table. If I ask you for
something like more sugar or ketchup, you bring it to me. You keep
refilling my glass. That’s it. It isn’t skilled labor. That is why they
call it the ‘service industry’.
You complain about how hard your job is? Try working a summer in
building construction, laying roofing tile. Think your pay as a server
is low? Get a job running a cash register at Wal Mart.
Look, let’s say that you work at a restaurant that assigns you four
tables, and each table spends about an hour eating. Let’s also say that
the average check for each table is $60, and let’s also say that your
employer only pays you $3 an hour, and the rest of your pay comes from
the ‘cheapskates’ that you are serving. Even if half the tables stiff
you and the other half only tip 10%, you are still making $15 an hour.
Where I live, that is double the minimum wage, and there are many, many
people who make less than that. In this scenario, if one in four tables
stiff you, and the others tip the 20% you constantly whine for, you are
now making $39 an hour.
Sorry, what you are doing isn’t worth $78,000 a year. So my new
tipping policy: I tip 15% for GOOD service, and less for crappy service.
My tips are capped at $10 for each hour I am there. That is more than
enough, and if you work a second table during that hour, means you are
making more than I am. For carrying stuff. Be happy you have a job.
My sister is a high school dropout. She went back and got her GED, but the highest paid job she can get is waiting tables at TGI Friday’s. She comes home from an 8 hour shift with $80-100. That is in addition to the $4.77 an hour she gets from her employer. Of course she complains that her check is frequently $0, after taxes are taken out, and that she must rely on tips for her entire income. Welcome to the real world. We all pay taxes, and your pretax income is $15-17 an hour- pretty good money for unskilled labor.