Confessions from the dark side

My name is Bill and I use regular incandescent bulbs in my house. Whew!…I feel much better getting that off my chest.

Seth Godin has a great post about why only 6% of all U.S. households have tried a Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL). This post got me thinking, “why haven’t I (and maybe many others) switched to CFLs”? Let me tell you my take:

1. Size. I used Compact Fluorescent Lights some time ago and they were not so compact as the name suggest and they did not fit into my lamps. I guess they are now smaller and fit everywhere the old light bulbs do.
2. Color. The CFLs I have used seemed to emit a color that was “off”. Maybe this has changed as well.
3. Cost Myopia. I wasn’t thinking long term cost savings, I only saw the higher initial sticker price.

But really it all comes down to:

4. Effort. The effort needed to buy a light bulb is like the effort needed to…well, buy a light bulb. When I tried the older bigger “compact” fluorescent lights and they did not fit, it was no big deal to go back to the usual. Because the effort is minimal, I only reserved the brainpower necessary to notice the immediate cost savings of the regular incandescent bulbs (I only awaken the part of my brain used to figure out long term cost analysis’ if I absolutely have to). Because the effort is minimal, I was unaware of the overwhelming evidence of the benefits of CFLs.

Now that I “get it”, I’ll make the change to the other side. I hope you’ll join me.

[UPDATE: I have now purchased CFLs for my home. Pretty painless I must say.]