I’ve been thinking about energy lately, or more specifically how to save some in my house.  I made a switch to CFL light bulbs in many cases, but I think I’m going back to good old incandescents.

I can’t use CFL’s in cases where I want to use a dimmer, like over the vanity in our master bathroom, and in the basement where we dim some lights for good movie viewing.

CFL’s are also a bit inconvenient in that you can’t just throw them out with the rest of the garbage due to the fact that they contain mercury.  And that’s another major point; they contain mercury.  If you break a CFL bulb, you have to ventilate the room, scoop up the debris and put it in an air tight container.

Some people will argue that there isn’t enough mercury in each bulb to really harm you, but my position is that if there’s too much mercury to throw out in the trash, there’s too much mercury in them, period.

Another alternative?

LED lights.  These things are amazing, and they’re showing up everywhere.  From big screen TV’s to laptops (they’ve been around in laptops for a while), to the red lights in stop lights…  They’re solid state bulbs with no moving parts and no volatile or poisonous gases.  Most of them will last as many as 20,000 hours or so, which means I’d have to replace them when my 5 month old son graduates from high school.

The one drawback is that they’re still pricey, and the traditional 40 to 60 Watt replacements haven’t matured quite yet, although you can already buy the “flood” type bulbs at Home Depot.

An investment of two types…

If LED lights can last as long as advertised and can come down in price quite a ways, I’d certainly entertain the thought of replacing my CFL’s and incandescents with straight LED’s.  I look at is an investment with a return of lower energy costs, both in the form of direct electrical consumption and thermal savings (did I mention LED’s don’t produce much heat?).

In addition, I could also make an investment in the company that develops LED’s as well.  A company like CREE (CREE: chart, web, Y!)) would be a good bet, and they’re making advances in LED technology nearly as fast as prices on technology are dropping.

I’ll be researching CREE over the next several days, as I think this could be a company worth investing in that produces a product that’s worth buying.

Environment, Technology CREE, LED lighting, Technology