[smookl]

I have a dining room candelabra fixture that currently has 20, 40w flame shaped clear incandescent bulbs. Considering the cost of fluorescent bulbs (about $10 each), does it pay to replace them. Would the savings in electricity be worth it? Am I really using 800 watts of electricity when the fixture is on?

[tkrussell]

Yes you are using 800 watts with the 20- 40 watt lamps. At $0.10 per KWH, this will cost $0.08 per hour to run.

There are several wattage size CFL lamps available in candelabra, but for example, if you use a 10 watt lamp, this will cost $.02 per hour to run.

So for each hour the fixture runs, you can save six cents per hour.

You need to plug in your cost per KWH of electricity to find your actual cost per hour.

A CFL lamps typically lasts 8000 hours, and an incandescent lamp typically lasts 1000 hours. Here you can do the math to see what savings there would be by not buying new incandescent lamps every 1000 hours.

Then compare the quality of light from both lamps, and be sure the CFL lamps are dimmable.

If this is for a home that only uses the fixture an hour or so each day, I would leave the incandescent lamps in operation. If this is for a commercial application, such as a restaurant, that uns 18 hours per day, the I would recommend the CFL lamps.