The county Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will host five opportunities for residents to exchange old inefficient light bulbs for newer, more efficient LED bulbs. The program runs from Monday through Friday, Sept. 26 – Sept. 30 and is scheduled to coincide with National Clean Energy Week. This is the sixth annual National Clean Energy Week which focuses on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The light bulb exchanges are held at various locations that support clean energy in some way. The locations include a two farms, two libraries, and a local business.
Here’s the schedule:
Monday, Sept 26 from 11 a.m. – 1 pm at Sandy Spring Gardens
301 Lethbridge Court, Ashton
A vegetable farm, located in suburban Montgomery County (not in the Agricultural Reserve), where neighbors have made their land available for vegetable production, which vegetables are processed and cooled with electricity from a solar panel installation on the farmer’s rooftop at home. This installation of 24 solar panels rated at 8.12 kW total which was added in 2020 produces an estimated 10,460 kWh of electric power per year. It was originally estimated to offset 84% of our electricity usage and over more than two years since our solar system went live, it has provided considerably more than the usage annually.
Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 3 – 6 p.m. at Rockville Memorial Library
21 Maryland Ave, Rockville
Rockville Library has solar panels on roof that provide clean, low cost energy and an excellent educational opportunity for County residents. Library visitors interested in learning more about solar panels can take out books and other learning materials, in addition to accessing information through signage and public programming. This library has 288 solar panels installed and produces 104, 291 kilowatt hours per year. That is enough to power about ten houses for a year.
Wednesday, Sept. 28 from 4 – 9 p.m. at One Acre Farm
18608 Wasche Rd, Dickerson
Thursday, Sept. 29 from 3 – 6 p.m. at Germantown Library
19840 Century Blvd, Germantown
Germantown Library has LED (light emitting diode) light bulbs installed – they are the most energy efficient on the market. Switching from a typical incandescent bulb to an LED one could save you about $40 a year*. Multiply that by the many bulbs you have in your home and watch the savings add up. 20 bulbs = $796* in savings/year, 40 bulbs = $1,591* in savings/year.
*Savings calculated by comparing an A-19 incandescent bulb (60 watts) with a typical LED bulb (9 watts) running for 98 hrs. per week. Source: www.bulbs.com/learning/energycalc.aspx
Friday, Sept. 30 from 5 – 7 p.m. at RS Automotive
7224 Carroll Ave, Takoma Park
RS Automotive is proud to be the first gas station in the United States to ditch oil for 100% electric vehicle charging! Depeswar Doley, a friendly Takoma Park fixture and RS Automotive’s owner since 1997, said he doesn’t know how much money the new charging stations will net his business — and doesn’t particularly seem to care, so long as he can continue paying his staff a living wage.
The DEP will have a table at the location and will take old incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs or any share or size. In exchange, the county will provide up to 4 A9 LED light bulbs.
