I was in Home Depot on Saturday and came across some fabulous deals on CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps.) Tucson Electric Power , Arizona Public Service and the Salt River Project has teamed up with a number of local retailers so we can now buy a 4-pack of the twisty bulbs that normally sells for $5.50 or so for about $1.85. That’s about 46 cents apiece.
These bulbs use only about 25% of the energy that regular incandescent bulbs use so we can conserve power and lower our electric bills too. Over the life of a bulb (estimated at 7 years) we save over $30 on our electric bill.  Do the math. The 46 cent cost is recovered shortly after the first month ($30 savings divided by 84 months equals 36 cents per month savings.) If you crunch the numbers in your HP12C calculator the annual rate or return is 931%. WOW! Another way of looking at it is if you change 25 bulbs you will reduce your electric bill by over $100 per year. 
My cousin said that he hadn’t switched out his bulbs to CFLs because of the mercury that they contain. While it is true that CFLs contain mercury, according to TEPs web site (click on recycle at the top,) “CFL bulbs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment by helping to reduce coal-fired power plant emissions. On average, a coal-fired power plant emits 10 milligrams of mercury to run an incandescent bulb, compared with only 2.4 milligrams to run a CFL (source: U.S. EPA.)”
This is a great opportunity to switch our bulbs at home and to encourage our friends, family and neighbors to do the same. We real estate agents should stock up and use these as promotional items or closing gifts. Please comment on how else can you use this idea? Thinking GREEN? Think Hogan!