A small economy.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

We like light in a part of the country that can get quite gloomy.

We were replacing our incandescent lamps with CFL lamps until LEDS became more widely available. Now we are replacing even our halogens with LEDs.

Our power bill since we moved back in from 4 years overseas has dropped from $75/mo to $25/mo, DW tells me.

These things are GREAT! And...how about a shop light that does not blow out when you are in the attic crawl space and bump it!

Far out!

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[growing_older]

Costco had LED shoplights last time I visited.

 

[bld999]

We are trying one over the cooktop. The color seems a little harsh and cold, maybe it's early days on selection. Fantastic low elect. use per lumen.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

We are trying one over the cooktop. The color seems a little harsh and cold, maybe it's early days on selection. Fantastic low elect. use per lumen.

Pay attention to the equivalent 'temperature' of the light. We like bright, 4K or 5K [i.e., 4,000° Kelvin] Most lamps are softer and 'warmer' with a more yellow light at 3K.

Ceiling panels intended for workplaces are most often 4K or 5K and are designed to be recessed. Some flat on the ceiling fixtures have an enclosure. (Obviously, what we go for. I am not going to dig a hole in my drywall.) I expect that I will have to make one or two shallow ceiling-hugging enclosures in future.

 

[ERD50]

Can you really attribute the $50/month reduction to lighting?

Yes, LEDs and CFLs are more efficient, but that's a lot of light... spreadsheet time...

OK, so for the approx delta of a 60W bulb versus 14W CFL, to make up $50 at roughly the national average of $0.11 per kWh, you would need to replace...

Forty-one 60W bulbs that were burning 8 hours a day all month!

That's a lot of light! Maybe your rates are higher, but even at triple, that's 14 bulbs @ 8 hrs a day.

Anything else to attribute the change to? Maybe estimated reads? Maybe a billing plan?

-ERD50

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Can you really attribute the $50/month reduction to lighting?

Yes, LEDs and CFLs are more efficient, but that's a lot of light... spreadsheet time...

OK, so for the approx delta of a 60W bulb versus 14W CFL, to make up $50 at roughly the national average of $0.11 per kWh, you would need to replace...

Forty-one 60W bulbs that were burning 8 hours a day all month!

That's a lot of light! Maybe your rates are higher, but even at triple, that's 14 bulbs @ 8 hrs a day.

Anything else to attribute the change to? Maybe estimated reads? Maybe a billing plan?

-ERD50

Dunno. Good questions. The halogens did eat a lot of electrons, though. I may update some time later.

 

[Independent]

My wife loves LEDs. She hates CFLs.

But, we did find that the LEDs are physically a little bigger than incandescents, and that was a problem in a couple fixtures.

 

[cooch96]

My wife loves LEDs. She hates CFLs.

Your wife sounds wise. Wise indeed.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We're probably 80% switched over to LEDs now. We've turned energy conservation into a hobby. Our bill went from around $3,500 a year to $1,300 at the latest projections, so for us that was quite a drop.

 

[prose3589]

Love LEDs. Have over 30 recessed lights in garage alone. Gradually replacing whole house. Expensive upfront cost but worth it in the long run financially. Plus a 22 year shelf life. Hoping not to change light bulbs again!


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[EastWest Gal]

My cousin put all LEDs in his house. It was ridiculously dim. Trying to figure out where he went wrong. I want to place our landscape light fixture bulbs with LEDs or even solar/back up battery LED fixtures but I'm afraid they will be too dim. Any suggestions?

 

[folivier]

So what are the best brands to buy? and where to get them? I have 17 recessed ceiling fixtures plus a few ceiling fans.
As an aside I changed over 70 12 volt halogen fixtures in my motorhome to leds. I bought them from ebay but they were only about $1.00 each.

 

[Siestatime]

Can you really attribute the $50/month reduction to lighting?



Yes, LEDs and CFLs are more efficient, but that's a lot of light... spreadsheet time...



OK, so for the approx delta of a 60W bulb versus 14W CFL, to make up $50 at roughly the national average of $0.11 per kWh, you would need to replace...



Forty-one 60W bulbs that were burning 8 hours a day all month!



That's a lot of light! Maybe your rates are higher, but even at triple, that's 14 bulbs @ 8 hrs a day.



Anything else to attribute the change to? Maybe estimated reads? Maybe a billing plan?



-ERD50

I read the OP as saying that they switched their halogen lamps to LED and have since noticed the savings he cited. The delta would be more like 60 W halogen to 5W LED = 55W. That would be more like replacing 14 lamps in the house, which is realistic in an average home.

No doubt that LEDs are the future of lighting. And the fewer kWh's we consume, the cleaner our air and the fewer power plants we have to build.


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[calmloki]

Hmm. I have a bag of CFLs that a relative took out to swap in LEDs. Think I changed two bulbs last year that burn all night (we are mostly CFL down south). The LEDs use about the same electricity as the CFLs last I checked, but still cost more than, well, free. Gonna be a long time before we go to LEDs. Tenants still get incandescent from my buying jag before they went away, as some tenants tend to steal bulbs and I don't pay their electric bills.. Also good to throw on instant warm light when showing a place.

 

[growerVon]

Can you really attribute the $50/month reduction to lighting?

Yes, LEDs and CFLs are more efficient, but that's a lot of light... spreadsheet time...

OK, so for the approx delta of a 60W bulb versus 14W CFL, to make up $50 at roughly the national average of $0.11 per kWh, you would need to replace...

Forty-one 60W bulbs that were burning 8 hours a day all month!

That's a lot of light! Maybe your rates are higher, but even at triple, that's 14 bulbs @ 8 hrs a day.

Anything else to attribute the change to? Maybe estimated reads? Maybe a billing plan?

-ERD50

I have some data to share. Did a significant mix CFL/incandescent to LED switchover last late summer. Our mid-April to mid-May 2014 bill included 816 KWH usage vs 637 for same range in 2015. About 22% reduction. Billable amount for elec was $87.20 vs $64.61 which is a ~26% reduction. I would have guessed 2015 rates would be higher; perhaps there is some green power credit differences going on. Either way, this is some data to help inform the evaluations. As well, many of these were CFL to begin with... so one can expect a greater drop in elec usage if coming solely from traditional incandescents.

Re my still relatively high monthly KWH usage... DW likes to leave a core set of lights on while we're gone. You know, for the dogs Lots of other devices stoically sitting on stand-by, too. Plenty of room to improve ala daylatedollarshort (fist bump!)

 

[John Galt III]

I found some 60 W CFL on sale for 47 cents each, so bought a few and installed 2 so far, as old incandescents burned out. The light is noticeably dimmer than incandesent when you turn it on, but becomes normally bright after about a minute. I could get used to it if it actually uses less electricity.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

.....

Forty-one 60W bulbs that were burning 8 hours a day all month!
......

-ERD50

I have that many or more light bulbs counting all the lamps, ceiling and wall fixtures. It is possible to get that kind of cost reduction.

 

[txtig]

I replaced three bulbs in a ceiling fixture that hangs over our kitchen island with Phillips 19 watt LED bulbs (equivalent to s 100 watt incandescent). Nice and bright and dimmable. A little expensive ($23 each) but I figured I'd never have to replace them again with their 22 year estimated life. But, six months out, one of them quits working. I emailed Phillips and they quickly responded and promised to send me a check for $25 to cover the replacement cost. Ordered and received a replacement from Amazon . . . still waiting on my check.


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[ERD50]

I read the OP as saying that they switched their halogen lamps to LED and have since noticed the savings he cited. The delta would be more like 60 W halogen to 5W LED = 55W. That would be more like replacing 14 lamps in the house, which is realistic in an average home. ...

OK, I was just going from memory, and I thought LEDS were only slightly more eff than CFLs.... hmmm, ditch the memory, I went downstairs and found the package for the LED I put in the kitchen a few months ago. Dimmable LED, 60W equivalent - 13.5 Watts. So I was VERY close.

Regardless, fourteen 60W equiv bulbs on 8 hours a day! That still seems like a LOT to me.

I have some data to share. Did a significant mix CFL/incandescent to LED switchover last late summer. Our mid-April to mid-May 2014 bill ...

The point I'm making is I don't think you can measure the difference by looking at your bill. Too much variation of all sorts there.

Make an estimate of the hours you use the high use bulbs a day (monitor usage for a few days), and calculate the difference with the rated watts per bulb and hours.

I have that many or more light bulbs counting all the lamps, ceiling and wall fixtures. It is possible to get that kind of cost reduction.

See above - you really have 14 bulbs on 8 hours a day, every day? Rethink this, then switch to CFL/LED.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

... A little expensive ($23 each) but I figured I'd never have to replace them again with their 22 year estimated life. But, six months out, one of them quits working. ...

The sad fact is - that '22 year estimated life', isn't.

It's a calculation based on how much a bulb dims over a shorter time (months?), and they extrapolate that out a 70% dim (IIRC - something like that) level.

It really has nothing to do with the electronics going belly up and having the bulb go out completely, leaving you in the dark (probably what happened to yours). Sad. We could use some 'truth in advertising', but this is from the same people who brought you the 'Zero Pollution Car' (which also isn't).

-ERD50

 

[Totoro]

Light in typical household can be anywhere from 20% to 40% of electricity consumption.

This is assuming heating is via other means (gas/oil), and not much airco.

So I would expect a drop from $75 to $25 is about more than LEDs. But you might be an outlier of course

 

[NoiseBoy]

I have had a mixed experience with CFLs. Have not tried any LEDs for home use yet.


I replaced a 40w incandescent frosted globe with a CFL in the bathroom, but it didn't last. Not sure if the cause was the perpendicular mounting of the globes above the mirror, or the frequent on/off cycles which killed it, but I went back to incandescent bulbs for that fixture.


I replaced a 200w incandescent bulb in a floor lamp at my parent's house with a 150w equivalent CFL, and that is working out well. The light output is enough, and they tend to leave that lamp on for the evening so it doesn't cycle too much.


I need to replace a halogen floor lamp in my living room because it gets too warm and turns itself off at odd times. Is there anyway to retrofit the fixture to take an LED?

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I am an outlier of some kind, but there may be other reasons as well. The days are longer with natural light. And since we are back from abroad, we cook with gas; DS (in residence) prefers the microwave. He also does not have his peeps over all night with their computers and role-playing games as often.

The LEDS have made a noticeable change, though.

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[Beldar]

We have replaced nearly all of the Edison & CFL lamps in our home over the past 2 yrs. Our monthly electric bill has softened considerably, about 20%. None of the lamps have failed so far.

I have noticed the price for 40w & 60w LED lamps has fallen quite a bit in thepast year, at least here, to under $4.00ea. The smaller accent and other styles are still pricey.

I'm currently replacing our outdoor flood & accent lighting with LED equivalents. They're very inexpensive and since they use considerably less energy than the incandescents I can add additional lighting if I desire & not increase the energy useage. The light they produce is every bit as good as the incandescents. And, they're avaiable in all sorts of color outputs as well.

_B

 

[aja8888]

I'm going to start this campaign to get most of our lights switched to LED this month.

The question I have is how do I get DW trained to not have the TV on (in every room there is one) all day long to keep her "company"?