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Westbrook Energy Committee Hosts Bulb Swap Dec. 17

Many who consider switching from incandescent or fluorescent to more energy-efficient LED light bulbs are deterred by the LED bulbs’ much higher up-front cost. If that’s been your reason for delaying the move, now’s your chance.

At a light bulb swap event sponsored by the Energy Committee, Westbrook residents, with identification, can swap five old bulbs for five new LED light bulbs and pay nothing. So choose to swap out the five lightbulbs that you use the most, and start making the LED conversion.

On Thursday, Dec. 17, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., residents can come to the Mulvey Municipal Center to participate in the light bulb swap program. The free swap of old bulbs for new LED bulbs is an event supported by a $5,000 Bright Idea Grant the town was awarded.

Nearby the swap spot, there will be energy efficiency experts from Eversource, Lantern Energy, and the CT Solar Challenge on hand to discuss other ways residents can save both energy and money.

The last Energy Committee light bulb swap event was held in October.

Energy Committee Chairman Chris Ehlert said of the first swap event, “The light bulb swap was very successful,” noting that 715 free LED bulbs were distributed to town residents.

Ehlert notes that a single LED bulb has a life expectancy of 23 years and can save homeowners as much as $10 per year in operating costs versus an incandescent bulb. In contrast, the life span of an incandescent bulb is between 18 months and 2 ½ years.

The push to get residents to save energy is consistent with a 2013 pledge the town signed. That pledge committed the town to try to cut municipal building energy consumption by 20 percent, to get 20 percent of municipal electricity from renewable sources, and to pursue strategies to advance the usage of clean energy by 2018.