When it comes to the lights, Sean Kelly feels guilty.
He cares about the planet, but he also likes his 16 dimmer switches, which help him create the perfect ambience in his Queen Village trinity.
Kelly can't bring himself to switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, even though they use 75 percent less energy than incandescents and last up to 10 times longer.
"CFLs really are ugly," he says, glumly adding that his incandescents are "one of the most wasteful things I do."
As lifestyle changes go, what could be easier than screwing in a lightbulb?
But despite their eco-friendliness, the little swirls have yet to gain universal adoration, even among people who view themselves as greenies.
Experts like Steve Nadel at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy cites the same reasons for reluctance that I hear.
Like Kelly, many hate the light from CFLs and get impatient waiting for it to brighten.
They're scared of the mercury, a neurotoxin, inside.
They balk at the initial outlay. (Recently, I bought a CFL the equivalent of 60 watts for $4.48; a few steps away was a value pack of 60-watt incandescents for 42 cents a bulb.)
The federal Environmental Protection Agency recently tallied last year's sales figures and reports that one in five bulbs sold was a CFL.
It's a huge leap from the year before, and for that they can thank people like Philadelphia resident Cindy Newman, who switched over her whole house.
Or thought she had, until she took inventory. Among 41 bulbs - which seemed a lot to her, but the EPA says the average home has 45 - she realized a chandelier, a few reading lamps and the bathroom, porch and closet lights were incandescent.
"I've never before spent so much time thinking about my lightbulbs," she marveled.
As for me, I've been experimenting. It's partly to save money. CFLs ultimately save about $30 each over their long lifetimes because they use far less electricity.
And I wanted to do my part. The EPA says that if each household switched out just one bulb, the country would save $600 million in energy costs and 800,000 cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions.
Not long ago, I took my clipboard room to room, charting bulbs. Like Newman, I was shocked at the number - 69 - and at how many incandescents were lurking among them. Back to the store!
So now I've switched about half - all but dimmables (often problematic with CFLs), halogens (more efficient than incandescents, if not CFLs), and lights I hardly use anyway.
