RiverMead is currently engaged in a major project to conserve energy by changing light bulbs. In terms of electricity savings, a modern light-emitting-diode bulb uses only about 1/6 as much electricity as an incandescent bulb (the old fashioned glass kind, containing a tungsten filament) and about 28% less electricity than a compact fluorescent light bulb (the kind with the thin twisted tube).
But electricity is not the only kind of energy saved by switching bulbs. During the 25,000-hour lifetime of an average LED bulb, one would need to replace an incandescent bulb of similar brightness 21 times, and one would need to replace a CFL bulb three times. Using an LED saves all the energy required to manufacture the extra incandescent or CFL bulbs and to dispose of the burnt-out ones.
At this point, more than half of RiverMead’s light bulbs are LEDs, and every new light fixture at RiverMead is optimized for operation with LEDs. In a few years, every one of RiverMead’s bulbs will be an LED.