Making the Step to Energy Efficient Bulbs

If the thought of spending a few extra dollars on energy saving light bulbs, just doesn't appeal to you, read on. The fact is that pricing has gone down and while e-bulbs still end up being slightly more expensive than the average bulb, they certainly are not ridiculously overpriced to the point where it seems you have to be rich in order to help save the world.

Ikea, for example sells a two pack of 11-watt bulbs for $9.99 (along with several other efficient bulbs). Wal-Mart also recently jumped on the e-bandwagon and started stocking store shelves with energy efficient lighting.

General Electric sells a GE Energy Smart compact fluorescent light bulb for about $4. So, as you can see, these aren't exactly bargain prices meaning in order for these to have some sort of mass appeal, companies may have to find less costly ways of producing these bulbs so that the savings will be passed on to the consumer.

Although the push to be more "green" has made more people aware of alternative products they can buy that are more environmentally friendly, the choice still really comes down to pricing and also quality.

A lot of people believe in a certain stigma surrounding green or organic products as being slightly deficient from regular products.

When energy efficient light bulbs first appeared on the market, people charged them with giving off "ugly" light that flickers. However, improvements have meant less flickering and softer light very similar to what most people are used to.

Compact fluorescent lighting can replace up to 10 regular light bulbs. Plus, these lights use up about a quarter less energy than regular bulbs and last five to seven years.

On the earth saving side to this equation, one compact fluorescent light bulb saves about 500 pounds of coal in the production process.

More retailers (from Wal-Mart to Home Depot) are stocking their shelves with efficient light bulbs giving consumers choice for those who are more environmentally conscious.

The only other constraint (aside from price) of these bulbs is that most cannot be dimmed though whether this is really important to most people is arguable. You just have to run a search to see whether a company manufactures a dimmable e-bulb.

Obviously, we are only just beginning to incorporate organic and green products into our consumer-driven world. Right now can be viewed as more of a test phase in which companies are trying out price points as consumers are beginning to do more research and educate themselves in the ramifications of what it means to go green.