CFL shift to reduce electricity bills, says DOE

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy is urging consumers to shift to compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, saying this would translate to a reduction in electricity bills by as much as P400 a year, depending on the number of bulbs used.

Officials stressed the importance of using CFL bulbs as the DOE wrapped yesterday up its Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP), launched in 2009 and jointly funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Philippine government.

The P400 yearly savings was computed based on the difference in the efficacy of the usual incandescent bulbs and CFL.

Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson said incandescent bulbs have an efficacy of 50 to 75 watts whereas CFL bulbs have an efficacy of 15 watts or a difference of 45 watts. This translates to savings of roughly P400 a year for an average consumption of three hours a night at P10 per kilowatt-hour.

The shift to CFL bulbs is part of the DOE’s PEEP.

The PEEP involved three major components: efficient lighting initiatives, efficiency initiatives in buildings, and communication and social mobilization.

Under the first component of the project, the DOE accomplished the distribution of 8.6 million CFLs in households nationwide, the retrofitting of lighting systems in 150 government buildings, and provision of solar home systems with LEDs in 223 households in selected off-grid areas.

Furthermore, the department also completed the retrofitting of traffic lights in 265 intersections in Metro Manila and in Cagayan de Oro City, expanded appliance testing facilities, and established lamp waste management facilities.

Under the second component, the DOE implemented efficiency initiatives in buildings, which streamlined existing building rating systems into a single building rating system.

The third component of the project focused on a communication campaign for efficient lighting.

The reduced electricity demand would consequently reduce the overall need for additional generation capacity of about 243 megawatts, Ayson said.

“The project will avoid a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions of about 172,000 tCO2 annually,” Ayson said.

The PEEP was funded by the ADB through a loan of $31.1 million and the government’s counterpart of P625 million.