Free bulbs to cut power use

Taupo and Turangi Weekender

Laurilee McMichael

Jan 16, 2019

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch - but in Turangi on Saturday, there is such a thing as free lightbulbs.

The giveaway of five free LED ecobulbs per household, worth at least $100, comes from the King Country Electric Power Trust. Some 10,000 King Country homes in Turangi, Taumarunui and Ohakune should have recieved a letter from the Trust this week, with a voucher for five free, lateste generation Ecobulb LED energy saving light bulbs.

The bulbs last up to 30 years and use up to 90 per cent less electricity than the inefficent light bulbs they replace.

Turangi based trustee Sandra Greenslade says many peole are unaware that cheap incandescent lightbulbs cost a fortune long terms as they us much more power than an energy-efficent LED bulb. She and husband Denis noticed the difference in power bills when they changed every bulb to LEDs.

At last year's Energy trusts of NZ conference in Wellington, Sandra saw a presentation by Ecobulb managing director Chris Mardon on a similar initiative his company had carried out in Ashburton where the local energy trust has distributed five free ecobulbs to every household. She suggested the King Country Electric Power Trust could do the same.

This Saturday, anyone can take vouchers to the Turangi Senior Citizens Hall and select any combination of five Ecobulb LEDs. This includes halogen, bayonet and screw-in LEDs and screw-in retrofit Ecobulb LED downlights, worth between $19.90 and $39.70 each, depending on the type.

Sandra says this Saturday was chosen as it is Wellington anniversary weekend and the Trust hopes holiday home owners in the area can take advantage of the offer.

Tuwharetoa Health Charitable Trust staff have volunteered to help at the giveaway, which runs from 9am to 5pm.

If people are not going to be around on Saturday, they can give their voucher to a neighbour or friend to collect the ecobulbs on their behalf so they don't miss out. Sandra says that if people need help collecting or installing their ecobulbs, they should not be shy to ask.

"Turangi is a really caring community where people help each other out. If your neighbour is elderly, go and get their voucher for them and go down and collect their bulbs," says Sandra.

"The idea is that people will put them in the most highly used area of their house - the lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. And the most important this is that they go home and do it immediately. Throw away your old bulbs. Don't keep them - it's false economy. When a bulb blows, go to the shop and try and replace each one with an LED bulb. We know they are expensive but once you've got your whole house on LEDs your electricity and your lines bill will plummet."

Sandra says people are put off buying ecobulbs because of the upfront cost but don't realise that the cheap incandescent bulbs will wind up costing much more over their lifetime.

"They [incandescent bulbs] are cheap to buy, they are 80 cents a bulb - and you put them in and they draw down so much power. If you have them switched on and you go out to your meter you can see your meter just flicking over.

"Alongside your over, your lighting is the highest [power] use in your house and your lights can be on for 12 hours a day in winter."

The giveaway includes ecobulb downlights, which screw in to exsisting downlight fitings and use up to 90 per cent less power than standard downlights.

Sandra says if people don't need the free ecobulbs, they should keep the voucher and give it to their neighbour or somebody else they know, or bring it to the hall to be passed on to somebody who needs it. If you want ecobulbs but can't redeem your voucher on Saturday or find someone to do it for you, hold onto it. If there are ecobulbs left over, another giveaway may be arranged.

Ecobulb managing director Chris Mardon says the company;s goal is to save enough electricity to power New Zealand for one year, and it is halfway there.

"Ulitmately we want to replace every single one of the 31 million inefficent light bulbs in New Zealand homes with Ecobulb LEDs. This would save New Zealanders $570 million per year on their power bills."

The King Country Power Trust Ecobulb LED Project is expected to save King Country power consumers a collective $6 million on their power bills over the next 10 years and trust chairman Adie Doyle says the average home could save up to $930 on their power bil;ls over the next decade by swapping five of its most frequently used, inefficent light bulbs to Ecobulb LEDs.