compact fluorescent lighting

I read somewhere that lighting is 22% of the US electricity usage (I'll see if I can track down the source of that). So it is a big chunk of our energy usage and replacing traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (sometimes referred to as CFLs) is an easy way to reduce your electricity usage.

Pros:
They screw in to normal light sockets
They use approximately 1/5th the energy
They put out less heat

Cons:
Light is cooler somewhat greenish
not dimmable
upfront cost more than standard lightbulb
it's best to dispose of them as harzardous waste http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf



Regarding the non-dimmability, I'm told there are now 3 way CFL bulbs as well as dimmable bulbs. They are still quite expensive but given that it's just changes to the ballast, I imagine the costs of the dimmable ones will come down significantly.

Sources for dimmable bulbs
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_44_169_205
http://blackenergy.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info¤cy=USD&products_id=1238
http://www2.acehardwareoutlet.com/(ijjroa55aqxegp55aojelmm3)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=3992252&Source=froogle

Now given that lighting does take up a large amount of energy and replacing light bulbs with CFLs is easy, you may be tempted to ignore the 5 watts your router consumes and and the 10 watts of standby your TV uses. But remember those are on 24 hours a day, and even if all lighting was made more efficient we'd still use way too much electricity!!!!