About Us » Regional Offices » Texas » Energy-Saving Bulbs

Lighten Up Texas

A statewide campaign to spur Texans to switch to energy-saving light bulbs

From left (foreground): Mayors White, Hardberger, Cook (back) and Wynn check out CFL bulbs lighting up a Texas map.

Find the Right Bulb

Light bulbs are not one-size-fits-all, so check out our comprehensive guide to find ones that will work for you.

Popular searches: Dimmable bulbs, Three-way bulbs
Find other bulbs
Take the Pledge: Switch to Energy-Saving Bulbs Today!

See Our Gift Guide

Get 10 Energy-Efficient, Environmentally Friendly Gift Ideas [PDF]

Listen to Our PSA

Find out how Texans, mockingbirds and bluebonnets can benefit from CFLs.

See Sample Print Ad

Print or download State Bulb of Texas [PDF].

This holiday season, Environmental Defense is teaming up with mayors from seven large Texas cities to educate Texans on the benefits of CFLs, especially as energy demands and costs rise.

Lighten Up Texas is a statewide campaign encouraging Texas citizens to replace their incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

Seven mayors join forces

Mayors from the seven Texas cities supporting the Lighten Up Texas campaign are:

Robert Cook, El Paso;
Robert Cluck, Arlington;
Phil Hardberger, San Antonio;
Tom Leppert, Dallas;
Mike Moncrief, Fort Worth;
Bill White, Houston; and
Will Wynn, Austin

CFLs are a win-win

CFLs last longer than regular light bulbs, save consumers money on their electric bills, boost the state's energy efficiency efforts and help the environment.

Consider this: At today’s electric rates, swapping out just one 60-watt incandescent bulb for an equally bright CFL saves more than $35 over the life of the bulb. Replace a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a CFL and save more than $50.

And this: If every Texas household replaced just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL, the global warming pollution reduced would be the same as removing 55,000 cars from the road — a string of cars that, end-to-end, would stretch roughly from Austin to Houston.

Today's long-lasting, affordable CFLs offer warm lighting

Compared with CFLs of five or 10 years ago, today’s CFLs are much more affordable and offer dramatically better performance. Despite these improvements and their widespread availability, CFLs account for just 6 percent of all light bulb sales.

Among their benefits, CFLs:

last up to 10 times as long as regular bulbs, which mean fewer replacements;
save money;
use about one-fourth the energy of regular bulbs, a plus for consumers and the environment;
radiate less heat, which further helps Texans save on air-conditioning costs; and
come in all shapes and sizes and can provide lighting that is indistinguishable from regular bulbs.

More on energy efficiency

Two September 2007 reports — commissioned by Environmental Defense with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy — highlight the billions of dollars that Texans could save through increased energy-efficiency efforts. On top of that, Texans would benefit from the creation of thousands of new jobs. See the reports.