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Back when I worked in the cleantech world for energy efficiency startups I came across a weird edge case where efficient lightbulbs like LEDs could actually be worse for the climate than inefficient incandescent bulbs. Sound crazy, right? 1/5
Well, it turns out that in Quebec nearly all of the electricity comes from near-zero carbon sources, mostly hydroelectricity. However, some homes still use natural gas for space heating. 2/5
While incandescent bulbs are pretty poor at turning electricity into light, they are (for that reason) rather good at turning electricity into heat. Switching from incandescent bulbs to LEDs wouldn't reduce much carbon – since the grid is nearly 100% clean. 3/5
But it would increase heating demand, as LEDs have relatively little waste heat. The extra gas use to meet that heating demand could end up resulting in more emissions than the electricity saved! 4/5
This is of course a weird edge case; almost everywhere else efficient lightbulbs are unambiguously good from a greenhouse gas emission standpoint. In most places the effect on emissions from additional heating load is small, especially since fewer lights are on at night. 5/5
