This page's purpose is to communicate to the Long Trail Community (and anyone outside of that community who is interested) in the benefits and negatives of an energy efficient home. This will be an ongoing project, I will start with one topic that the community can focus on and then move on to the next. I also plan to update the old topics when I have new information.
Compact Fluorescents
Fluorescent light-bulbs will be the first the first focus of this website. Fluorescents produce much more light per watt in comparison to incandescents. Their increased efficiency means one can use a bulb with much lower wattage and save money and power. While CFLs have a higher initial cost, one estimate states that they pay for themselves after five hundred hours while fluorescents typically claim ten-thousand to fifteen-thousand hour lifespans! (wikipedia)My goal is to get every family in the Long Trail Community to switch at least one incandescent bulb to a fluorescent.Where to Buy
The following stores have Compact Fluorescents for $1
In Bennington, Aubuchon's and Greenberg's
In Rutland, True Value
In Danby, Crosby and Sons True Value
I created a group for our school on onebillionbulbs.com our address is http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/Group/LTS If you're from LTS
Information on CFLs I will later update this with written information but in the meantime here are some pages that talk about CFLs. The first one has interesting comments in addition to the main article.
http://www.onebillionbulbs.com If you're not from LTS or here
I want every participating person to join this group so we can record our total energy and money savings. Register only new fluorescent changes.
What brands to buy
Sylvania and Phillips both make very good compact fluorescents. Their cost is too high though. I recommend going to Bennington and buying General Electric bulbs at Aubuchon's or True Value in Rutland for $1. They are selling a limited amount of these bulb but if you can get them then you cannot beat a dollar. GE's are almost as good as the other brands and much cheaper. So if you can get to Bennington or Rutland that is where you should buy your bulbs. We can get the Phillips for about $4 in bulk but it is not worth it as long as we can get the subsidized ones. Stay away from Maxlite bulbs.Life Style There are also simple things everyone can do to save energy. Of course one should turn off lights in unoccupied rooms and not leave the water faucet on while brushing teeth. Carpool when you can and better yet ride a bike or walk short distances when its warm. Locally grown food is good because it supports our local community but also because fuel isn't used to ship it across the country. You can also help by recycling. Bottles and cans are obvious but many computer manufacturers recycle your old computer and you can drop old cellphones off at Staples. Recycling paper and newspaper helps but those recycled products need to be used so buy recycled paper products.
What About Mercury?
Efficiency Vermont
Compact Fluorescent Lighting
Global Warming
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