Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Heat tape, which doesn't waste 5% of the electricity as light
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I see this concept pointed out from time to time tongue-in-cheek, but few actually realize that light just hits the walls turning into heat - just as almost all light energy turns to heat. I've even heard it said an electric space heater is not "100% efficient" because it has a pilot light! But that is ridiculous unless one supposes the light heads directly and only toward the nearest glass window. In any household sense a CFL is also a 100% efficient heater, just not all of the heat originates at the bulb, but some from the walls and furniture that absorb the light.
In propane-heated house in the winter with the curtains closed at night, unless your propane is cheaper than dirt, it is tough for propane to beat the efficiency of leaving every interior incandenscent bulb switched on. It is a bargain by almost any mathematical calculations. The incandescent bulbs on the inside of the average living room are just as good as electric heat, and I was surprised to learn this once I actually did the math.
It is my thinking that switching to CFL in those instances only makes the house less net efficient by virtue of more highly-priced smog producing propane needing to be burned to replace the BTUs the bulb throws out.
CFL is also a real bummer in some applications if you have to throw it out and replace it twice a year.