The incandescent light bulb is a source of artificial light that works by incandescence. An electric current passes through a thin filament, heating it until it produces light. The enclosing glass bulb prevents the oxygen in air from reaching the hot filament, which otherwise would be destroyed rapidly by oxidation.

The light bulb, in particular, profoundly changed human existence by illuminating the night and making it hospitable to a wide range of human activity. The electric light, one of the everyday conveniences that most affects our lives, was invented in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison.

The traditional light bulb as we know it has not changed for over a hundred years since Edison and Swan - the time of Queen Victoria - and these bulbs waste 95% of electricity as heat.

Energy saving light bulbs are a bright idea both for your pocket and the environment. They use up to 80 per cent less electricity than a standard bulb, but produce the same amount of light. Energy saving light bulbs use a fifth to a quarter of the electricity of ordinary bulbs to generate the same amount of light. So where you'd normally use a 60W bulb, you'll only need a 13-18W energy saving recommended equivalent.

Depending on how long your lights are in use every day, just one energy saving light bulb could save you on average around £3 a year, and up to £6 for brighter bulbs or those used for more hours a day. And because it will last up to 10 times longer than a standard bulb, it could save you around £40 before it needs replacing.

Fit all the lights in your house with energy saving light bulbs and you could save around £45 a year and £600 over the lifetime of all of the energy saving light bulbs.

Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet today. It is happening and it is happening right now. We all need to work together to tackle climate change by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions which is why the government is pushing a programme to phase out GLS light bulbs and replace with energy saving light bulbs by 2011.

By phasing out the traditional light bulbs and switching to Energy Saving Bulbs we will all be using less energy so will need less electricity. This initiative aims to save up to 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2012 from UK electricity generation.

Energy saving light bulbs are good for your pocket and the environment. If you needed any more convincing here are some reasons that you should be switching to energy saving light bulbs today: There are 600m light sockets in the UK, 10-15% of a household’s electricity bill is due to light bulbs, 1.8bn is spent on lighting homes each year, you could make on average a £7 saving for each incandescent bulb replaced with an energy saving light bulb and finally, 80% less electricity is used by energy saving light bulbs compared with traditional light bulbs. Flick the switch and make the change to energy saving light bulbs today.