Couple set to save with bulb swap

Petra Mihaljevic and Mitchel Cantlon (left) said the main benefit was not cost but less frequent bulb changing. Photo / Dean Purcell

Replacing every lightbulb in their home with an energy efficient version is set to save Mt Albert couple Petra Mihaljevic and Mitchel Cantlon $144 a year.

The pair have been told their next monthly power bill will be about $12 cheaper, after a "lighting makeover" paid for by the Electricity Commission.

The commission estimates if the couple had paid for new bulbs for their two-bedroom home, it would have cost $61 - just over a third of the cost of buying standard incandescent bulbs over the same period.

Ms Mihaljevic said the new lights were just as bright as the old ones, and some of them looked better.

She assumed she'd be getting the classic, spiral-shaped energy efficient lightbulbs but found she could have virtually any style she wanted, she said. "Some of them take a bit longer to light up but not too much."

Electricity bills for the couple's insulated home ranged from $90 in summer to $300 in winter.

Ms Mihaljevic said the main benefit was not cost but less frequent changing of lightbulbs. "We buy cheap ones and we seem to be replacing them all the time. These could last two or three years," she said.

Incandescent bulbs last about 1000 hours compared with about 8000 to 10,000 hours for an efficient version, according to the Lighting Council NZ.

Plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs were dropped in December by Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee, with the Government saying it was up to householders to decide which light bulb they used.

The Electricity Commission, Consumer NZ, the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority, Master Electricians and the Green Building Council have now teamed up to launch the Right Light campaign to encourage people to take the more efficient option.

For more information see: www.rightlight.govt.nz.