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I have been thinking a lot lately about my personal beliefs.  Partially brought on by Fade’s great posts, Partially by Med’s excellent beer, and a little bit because of some of the blogs I have been reading. 

People who have perused some of my other writings may have noticed that I support the efforts over at Zombie Popcorn.  Both in a quest for more 3D movies and also in a better quality of life for our animal brethren.  I suggest checking out the site for the latest in zombie news.  And to get their link to free asian style horror movies go here. For folks who haven’t been keeping track, they have taken the good fight up to the great city of NY.  Coincidentally, you can fight for both causes there.  Well, their perserverance, they have been there for well over a month by my count, has gotten me thinking on what I should be concerned about. 

Now, it’s about at this time that I hear my Heathen brethren saying, but isn’t Heathenism your cause.  And, to you folks I answer, “NO, not really.” Heathenism isn’t a cause, it’s more a way of life.  A cause is something you fight for and try, hopefully quite hard, to get other people to support.  This is the wrong way to encourage Heathenism.  We don’t go door to door with a special Heathen bible telling people what to do.  Similar to the Matrix, we put the word out and wait for those ready to leave their false lives to find us.

But I digress.  After much deliberation I have finally decided on the cause I am going to support.  I know I could have taken the easy way out and joined in a cause I have friends already fighting for, but that’s just not the way I do things. It’s never easy.  Besides, I wanted to find something that I could even get some of my more lethargic friends to support.

So I present Gilgemesh’s Heathen cause for support:

Lightbulbs

Yeah, lightbulbs.  I know, it seems silly, but let me have a few more minutes of your time to explain. While checking out some vital sports news on Si.com the other day I noticed one of the banner ads. Normally I don’t pay attention to these glaring attrocities, but something about it caught my eye.  After finishing the article I was reading I gave the banner a click.  Desperately hoping it wouldn’t take me somewhere not safe for work.

This is where I ended up. www.unscrewamerica.org

OK, so, perhaps that explains why my attention was caught by this banner ad, but in any case it is definitely worth a click.  They have a ton of great info there, all organized in a very easy to get through  way.  But, to save you the time, here is the gist of the lightbulb issue.

Currently there are 3 main types of bulbs made for general home use: Incandescents, CFLs, and LEDs. Incandescents are the regular 6 for $3.00 bulbs you can get at the store.  These are cheap bulbs that last about 1000 hours and create a ton of heat.  CFLs are slightly more expensive per bulb, about $2.50 each at the store.  But, and this is where it gets good, they last up to 15,000 hours, use 80% less energy, and produce much less heat. LEDs are the next stage, future of lightbulbs, but they aren’t quite ready for the prime time.  LEDs last up to 60,000 hours, and produce almost no heat.  They are just a bit too expensive right now for practical use.

So, now you know a little bit of the info.  Here is the breakdown financially: Incandescent bulbs at 1000 hours per bulb, costing $.50 each are $7.50 for 15,000 hours of use.  CFLs are $2.50 for 15,000 hours.  What?  That doesn’t convince you? Well, think about not having to change a bulb in your hours more than, oh, once every seven years.  Sound good?  OK.  Now lets add in a bit of the power savings.

Over the course of 15,000 hours of use a standard incandescent bulb uses 900kwh of energy. At about $.10 per hour that comes to $90. The CFL uses 20% of the energy an incandescant does, for a grand total of $18 over the course of it’s 7 year life.  Grand total: Incandescent $97.50, CFL $20.50.  Which one do you want to use now?

But there’s more.  Changing one bulb to a CFL saves 450 pounds of power plant emissions.  Just for reference that’s about 3 of me.  And, if we all change just 6 bulbs to CFLs we can save the US $3.6 billion in energy cost.  Hmm.  Now there’s something to think about.

“Well,” I hear you say, “What are the drawbacks?” There are 2. First, as Gilgewife will point out, it takes a few seconds for a CFL to reach maximum luminosity. An incandescent bulb reaches max lumens much faster. Second, and this is the important part, there is a tiny amount of mercury in a CFL bulb. The good news on that is, many major retailers either have programs in place for you to bring in your old bulbs for recycling, or will by the time your first bulb needs replacing. Remeber, we are talking 7 years from now. And hopefully, by then, LEDs will be at a price everyone can afford.

So, what are you waiting for? Go change your light bulbs.