MARILAO, Bulacan-SM malls together with the Department of Energy (DOE) recently launched its compact-fluorescent lamp (CFL) exchange program.

Sheryl Baltazar of SM Marilao said the CFL exchange project is part of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP) of the DOE that began in September this year, when hundreds of CFLs were distributed in the Metro Manila area.

Since then, the DOE has initiated a countrywide effort to reduce energy consumption, thus conserving coal and ultimately conserving our natural resources, Baltazar added.

CFLs are a more efficient alternative to regular incandescent light bulbs (ILB) that are simply economical and environment friendly.

Baltazar noted that one CFL has a longer life span of 6,000 to 10,000 hours compared with an incandescent lamp’s 750 to 1,000 hours. This basically means a ratio of eight to 10 incandescent bulbs to one CFL.

Baltazar explained that based on DOE studies, CFLs also use 70 percent to 80 percent less energy than ILBs, but offer the same amount of light. ILBs have been found to produce more heat than light.

Shoppers at SM Baliwag and SM Marilao, Baltazar said, can trade their old (working or not) ILBs for CFLs for free.

She added that CFLs will be available for exchange at SM CFL Exchange booths where customers can simply bring their valid October 2009 or November 2009 electric bill and incandescent bulbs to the booth to redeem a maximum of six CFLs. The project will run for about a month or until supplies last.

Baltazar said SM Marilao and SM Baliwag in Bulacan are only two of 20 SM malls that advocate for the DOE’s energy efficiency project.