We all have them – lots of them. Probably more than you think if you stop and count. And many are turned on for hours at a time. Most homeowners in this area of the country use a significant portion of their energy to illuminate their homes. So let’s take a look at the old light bulb. It is pretty old, in fact. You can read about it on Wikipedia if you like
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb).
It started in the 1800’s, and the bulb has not changed much in the last hundred years.
Incandescent bulbs generate light, but the majority of their consumed energy gets turned into heat.  In fact, in buildings that are air conditioned (and in refrigerators too), the incandescent light costs double: once to create the light and heat, and then once more as the air conditioning is hard at work removing that heat from the conditioned space.
New lights are here, as you know – the CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) is now showing up in more homes and businesses. They use only ¼ as much energy to generate the same amount of light. They used to be really harsh in color and took a while to ramp up to full brilliance. And they didn’t work with dimmers. And they cost a lot.
But that was a few years ago! Like any new technology, things are changing rapidly. Modern CFL’s come in various shades of white, and now the ‘soft white’ is much more like the lights we grew up with. And they come up to full brilliance much faster, some are so quick that you might not be able to tell which bulb is incandescent, and which is the CFL. And they now make dimmable bulbs, as well as bulbs to fit recessed can lights. There are literally hundreds of options available, which creates a new problem; how do I find the best CFL’s for the various fixtures in my home? That’s where emeraldECO comes in. We have a lot of experience researching and testing various bulbs, and we can find the best bulbs for each fixture in your home.
Are CFL’s the perfect answer? No, there are still some bulb shapes, colors and intensities that are not yet perfect replacements, but we are constantly hunting these highly efficient light sources, looking to fill every socket with high efficiency lighting!

Check out this video from the New York Times about CFL's

Please call us at your convenience and we can discuss how to help you reach your goals! 415-515-2405