PFL Gets "Green" Light
Pawling Free Library has switched every light in the main building to new "green" bulbs.
This changing of the lights is a big win for the Library and the Pawling community in at least three ways. These low-wattage fluorescent bulbs use much less power and last longer than regular incandescent bulbs and, unlike earlier flourescent replacements, these contain no mercury so that they can be recycled when it is time to replace them.
Doing the Math:
PFL Trustee Frank Sinisi replaced 27 bulbs throughout the library, including in places where the lighting had been reduced to save costs. Now all the dim corners are beautifully lit.
Six of the bulbs replace the little 50 watt floods over the desk with fluorescent that put out just as much light but only consume 14 watts of power. Two more bulbs provide similar savings and an additional 19 large incandescent floods save 65 watts each. That makes a total of 1523 watts -- 1.5 kilowatts -- saved during every hour that the library is open.
Add in savings for less heat in the summer and the savings due to longer life of the bulbs and you can see that this is a significantly "green" step in every way.
