Are you smarter than a light bulb? If you’re using ENERGY STAR certified LEDs, congratulations! You are!! You can prove it by sharing a photo of your best LED moment on Facebook or Twitter using the #LightTheMoment hashtag.
#LightTheMoment
If you’re not using ENERGY STAR certified LEDs, well…the light bulb might win.
That may sound ridiculous, but consider this:
According to U.S. EPA, the average American home – probably like yours – has approximately 50 light sockets.
Most of those still use inefficient incandescent light bulbs – you know, like the ones Thomas Edison invented. In 1879. That’s 138 years ago!!
Would you consider using a phone that relied on 138-year-old technology? No.
Would you want to putz around in the 109-year-old Model T? Nope.
What about trying to make your latte using a Little House on the Prairie-type open fire cooking pit? I just don’t see it.
And yet, when it comes to light bulbs, you’re using the least smart, oldest, most expensive to operate, and most time wasting technology on the market:
An incandescent bulb.
A bulb that spends 90 percent of the energy it consumes (and that you pay for) creating heat, not even light!
A bulb that lasts only 1/10 as long as bulbs that you can reliably turn on and off for an average of 15,000 hours before they need to be replaced.
Duhhh…
Lucky for you EPA’s ENERGY STAR program is coming to the rescue.
They’ve worked closely with the lighting industry to develop energy efficient LED bulbs. Here’s why they’re so smart!
WHAT ARE ENERGY STAR CERTIFIED LEDs?
LED stands for light emitting diodes, but that’s not important.
What’s important is that LED light bulbs certified to meet ENERGY STAR’s high-performance standards are so much more energy-efficient and cost-effective that, well, they make anyone who uses them look a LOT smarter than people who still use those old-fashioned incandescents.
ENERGY STAR knows you WANT to be smart. That’s why, starting on October 24 (today), they’ve launched an initiative to encourage you to #LightTheMoment by sharing pictures of special moments in your life that can be made even better by lighting them with ENERGY STAR certified LEDs.
In fact, ENERGY STAR is inviting you to take pictures of those moments and post them on Facebook and Twitter using the #LightTheMoment hashtag (please tag @ENERGYSTAR while you’re at it).
If you already have LED light bulbs in your home, go ahead and and show off how smart you are by snapping fun photos of how you’re enjoying their light at home or at work.
Then stay tuned, because, in addition to impressing all your friends and family with your energy smart-ness, ENERGY STAR will be showcasing many of the photos in their “Moments Gallery.” Your photo may even end up in a “Light the Moment” highlight reel in November. (I love this reel ENERGY STAR has pulled together so far.)
But if you DON’T have LED light bulbs yet, for goodness sake go get some! Check with your local utility before you head for the store, since many power companies actually give consumers rebates to buy LEDs.
You’ll save money buying the bulbs, and you’ll save money on your electric bill, too – in some cases, up to $55 over the lifetime of each and every bulb you buy.
Remember those 50 outlets EPA says most houses have?
Do the math:
50 outlets x $55/bulb savings = $2,750.
How smart is that?!!
By the way, LED light bulbs give you some bragging rights when it comes to talking about what you’re doing to stop climate change – and after all the climate-related hurricanes and fires this season, who doesn’t want to do that?
Most electricity still comes from coal-fired power plants. Burning coal emits the carbon dioxide that causes climate change.
When you switch to an LED, you reduce the amount of coal needed to keep the light bulbs burning in your house.
“If each home replaced only one of Thomas Edison’s light bulbs with an ENERGY STAR certified LED, we would prevent nearly 7 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emission per year, equivalent to the emissions from 650,000 cars.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Doesn’t that sound like a no-brainer?
SHARE YOUR #LightTheMoment!
You can get more information about the #LightTheMoment campaign from ENERGY STAR right here.
If you need help figuring out what bulb to actually buy, check out this handy guide.
By the way, here’s one last way to show you really are smarter than a light bulb:
When you buy your LEDs, make sure they carry the bright blue ENERGY STAR label. That’s how you’ll know the bulbs meet the highest performance and energy efficiency standards you want.
DO ME A FAVOR, PRETTY PLEASE!
Will you please share this post and the hashtag #LightTheMoment with your own communities? I know sometimes it’s fun to be the only smarty pants in the room. But I think you’ll agree that, right now, the planet needs as many smart people pulling for it as possible.
Thanks for spreading the word!
