While we didn’t have adequate supply and very less demand of CFL few years back, things seem to be much better now. Most supermarkets and all electrical shops have them for sale, at reasonable cost(Rs. 90 to 130 for branded 11W). Shops and other commercial organizations are leading the way. It would only be few more years before their price becomes on par with tube lights.

I’m seeing many shops shifting to CFL ( probably 1 28 to 36W CFL replacing 3 to 4 60W incandescent bulbs). It is quite beneficial for the shops, as they could recover the cost of buying a branded CFL within few months from saved electricity bills.

While I can understand this trend in Chennai, I was pleased to see this at Tirunelveli during my last visit. More interestingly Bombay Theatre there had most of its lighting from CFL. It was nice.

By using CFL fixtures, we get the following benefits

• power consumption reduced by as much as 70 to 80%.
• they generate less heat than incandescent bulbs, requiring less cooling.
• They last 3 to 5 times longer than a incandescent bulb
• They’re much more environment friendly, considering their energy efficiency.

I use energy efficient lighting fixtures at my home. Do you?