Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
My electricity bill is now 40% lower
()
Who would have known? This summer I went around the apartment, systematically, room by room, replacing my regular light bulbs with compact fluorescents lights (CFLs) at the recommendation of councilman Eric Garcetti. In the end, I replaced nine.
The effects on our next two electricity bills we're amazing, yet confusing. Why was it considerably less? It really should be costlier in the summer due to our not-so-well insulated 1960's apartment when the AC must go on around 5 p.m. so our laptops won't explode. This year, the bill went down and hell, I know there wasn't a rate cut worth $80 per household.
So I continue on my journey to replace CFLs throughout the apartment. Luckily, my roommate is out of town, so here is my chance to sweep into his office on a clandestine mission, switching out lights in his room and bathroom replacing his light bulbs. There's at least two he won't notice. As for the others, he's a lighting designer, there's no way I'm getting away with this that easily.
Support for LAist comes from
The problem is that those warm and fuzzy CFLs have not found their way into my collection. Nor have the ones that you can dim. I have two lights in my bathroom that I once replaced, but quickly undid. Honestly, vanity won out -- for a few days, I was wondering why I looked like those depressed people in an Ambien CR commercial when looking into the mirror. It just didn't make a great start to the day. This doesn't happen in other parts of the house because lamp shades filter the light, making a major difference in perception.
I count at least seven more light bulbs that could be replaced with CFLs in my household. Maybe another surprising discount is on its way. Time to go shopping for those specialized ones, see you at the store!
Photo by AZAdam via Flickr
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist