Stevie's goin green...

[steveinaz]

I just changed 26, 60 watt conventional bulbs with the 60watt equivalent 13w "green" long-life bulbs. Let's do the math:

26 x 60 = 1560 watts
26 x 13 = 338 watts

That represents a 75% savings on wattage--pretty impressive. Ok, a six-pack of these things at Walmart is $10.98, so that's $1.83 a bulb--not sure how that compares to an incandescent, but it seems very reasonable to me. Also figure in less heat generated, less pull on your overall house power, and 5 year bulb life (average for argument sake).

I've got more replacing to do. I need 2 more 60watt equiv, and 13 40watt equiv bulbs (damn ceiling fans) to finish the house. My kitchen main fixture uses 5 flood style lights, for which I haven't seen a new "green" bulb replacement for yet. Cripes, have you ever counted how many light bulbs you have? You'd be surprised. We have a 3 bedroom/1 office 1950 square foot home--it's not a mansion by a long shot.

In case you are wondering, looking at an incandescent 60 watt bulb, right next to the new 13watt (60w equiv) green bulb--the new bulb is actually slighty brighter, so the "equivalencies" are accurate FWIW. Seems like a winner all the way around.

[ND13]

That's what I use when replacing the conventionals.

[BlueMDPicker]

We've gradually replaced all the conventional bulbs here. Once you get used to the slight delay, you forget all about them. The only thing that's going to keep these "green", however, is proper disposal. If they all end up in the landfill it's going to be bad juju.

The multi-LED's are pretty good mini-flood replacements, Steve.

[steveinaz]

The floods need to be very powerful as they are mounted on a fixture 14 feet up (vaulted ceiling). I only noticed the delay you speak of, the first time they were turned on--they seem to come on instaneously after that?!

Agree about the landfill situation--they have trace amounts of mercury in them--as do all flourescents.

[Norm Apter]

Good move, Steve. I've been using all energy-savers (13W for 60W output and 23W for 100W output) ever since I returned to the States in October 2006. Haven't had to replace a single one since and don't expect to for some time. For those who haven't bought them yet and who have Costco memberships, you can find deals even slightly better than Walmart (I think I found an 8-pack for $12).

Our bi-monthly electric bill is a bit lower now than what it was in 2003, when I lived in the same area in L.A. and used all incandescent bulbs. I should mention that I'm home as much or even more than I was back then. The avg. bi-monthly electricity bill for our apartment back then was $80. Now we avg. about $65 (inc. taxes) for 2 months (and my guess is that electricity fees should have at least stayed the same if not gone up over the past 5 years). Los Angeles is nice in that I've never had to turn on the AC or Heater, though. Still, its a nice savings (at least for me as a grad student) and its nice not to have to replace them so often.

[steveinaz]

I really like not having to replace them so often. I leave the front outside lights on at night for security, and I was changing those (standard) bulbs about every 4 months.

I'll have to find some 100w equiv, the 2 60/13 watters in the garage aren't enough light.

[madmax]

Keep in mind that like florescent tubes they take way more power to turn on than to leave on for awhile. This means if you are walking out of room but plan on going back in the next half hour, leave them on. Also, the more they are turned on and off, the shorter the useable life. I've had them in several places and they tend to last a year or two. On a post lamp I had the electric eye went bad and the light stayed on. My solution was to remove the 60 watt bulb and install one of these and leave on all the time. It stayed on 24 hours a day for 9 years before it went bad.

Now, would you like to buy some carbon credits?
madmax

[McLoki]

Keep in mind that like florescent tubes they take way more power to turn on than to leave on for awhile. This means if you are walking out of room but plan on going back in the next half hour, leave them on. Also, the more they are turned on and off, the shorter the useable life. I've had them in several places and they tend to last a year or two. On a post lamp I had the electric eye went bad and the light stayed on. My solution was to remove the 60 watt bulb and install one of these and leave on all the time. It stayed on 24 hours a day for 9 years before it went bad.

Now, would you like to buy some carbon credits?
madmax

They did a test on that on mythbusters and found that of all lights, Flourecents took the most power to start up. In their testing, If you leave the room for more than 23seconds though, you are better off shutting them off.

As far as the on/off thing sapping the life out of the bulb - you are absolutely correct. I have a few in my house I have to replace once per year (more or less) because they are on and off so often.

One other thing I did was replace the switch in my walk in closet with an electric eye. (purchased at Menards for about $15.) It makes it really nice to just walk in the closet and you have light. Walk out and within about a minute or so - it turns off.

Michael

[Keiko]

Blah! When you said goin green Steve, I thought for a sec that there is something better than BD now. :p

[I-SIG]

I've been using these for awhile as well.

MM, you need to watch MythBusters. They checked on that peak usage at start-up for the ballast or whwtever the equivalent is in the new CFL's and if you were going to be a room for like 3/10 of a second then it was worth it to leave them on all the time! Otherwise turn them off. Even the old fluorescents was only worth like 23 seconds.

Wes

[madmax]

Damn them mythbusters...:D
madmax

[MillerLiteScott]

BUSTED.


I have a bunch in my house. I have quite a few recessed cans on dimmers and the dimming capable CF bulbs are @ $12-$13 EACH.

I hope they are saving me some money.

My wife and kids leave a lot of lights on all the time even during the day. When I come home from work I usually turn of 3-5 lights.

Scott

[obieone]

You folks REALLY want to save $, get a programmable t-stat.
And upgrade your 10+ year old central a/c to a higher SEER rating.

[candyliquor35m]

Good for you. Make sure you take the old cfl's and fluorescents to a recycling center that accepts them.

[bobman1235]

You folks REALLY want to save $, get a programmable t-stat.

I saved a FORTUNE on my oil bill last year with a programmable thermostat. I'm guessing for someone who's not as forgetful as I am the savings wouldn't be quite as dramatic, as I'd always forget to turn the heat off when I left for work / went to bed.

[disneyjoe7]

the new bulb is actually slighty brighter, so the "equivalencies" are accurate FWIW. Seems like a winner all the way around.

Steve,

When you state brighter are these not 2700k or "Warm White" bulbs? 3100k bulbs can seem brighter but really it's just a whiter light.

[steveinaz]

Steve,

When you state brighter are these not 2700k or "Warm White" bulbs? 3100k bulbs can seem brighter but really it's just a whiter light.

Don't know, it's the green boxed ones..? They are not casting a blue light--don't know if that helps...

[steveinaz]

I saved a FORTUNE on my oil bill last year with a programmable thermostat. I'm guessing for someone who's not as forgetful as I am the savings wouldn't be quite as dramatic, as I'd always forget to turn the heat off when I left for work / went to bed.

I've been running programmable thermostats before they were all the rage. The new homes come with them, at least in Arizona. They do save you some coin for sure.

[steveinaz]

Good for you. Make sure you take the old cfl's and fluorescents to a recycling center that accepts them.

I do, it's called my trash can. I didn't mean to give the impression that I give a **** about the environment---I just don't like changing bulbs often. :D

[ben62670]

Hey guys nobody has mentioned the fact that the CF bulbs create way lees heat for further savings;)
Ben

[disneyjoe7]

I just changed 26, 60 watt conventional bulbs with the 60watt equivalent 13w "green" long-life bulbs. Let's do the math:

26 x 60 = 1560 watts
26 x 13 = 338 watts

That represents a 75% savings on wattage--pretty impressive. Ok, a six-pack of these things at Walmart is $10.98, so that's $1.83 a bulb--not sure how that compares to an incandescent, but it seems very reasonable to me. Also figure in less heat generated, less pull on your overall house power, and 5 year bulb life (average for argument sake).

I've got more replacing to do. I need 2 more 60watt equiv, and 13 40watt equiv bulbs (damn ceiling fans) to finish the house. My kitchen main fixture uses 5 flood style lights, for which I haven't seen a new "green" bulb replacement for yet. Cripes, have you ever counted how many light bulbs you have? You'd be surprised. We have a 3 bedroom/1 office 1950 square foot home--it's not a mansion by a long shot.

In case you are wondering, looking at an incandescent 60 watt bulb, right next to the new 13watt (60w equiv) green bulb--the new bulb is actually slighty brighter, so the "equivalencies" are accurate FWIW. Seems like a winner all the way around.

Ben,

I hi lighted it for ya... So you couldn't miss it this time.

[ben62670]

Thanks Steve. I have been missing a lot lately. Next week I am thinking about getting a little sleep.

[madmax]

Hey guys nobody has mentioned the fact that the CF bulbs create way lees heat for further savings;)
Ben

I would have been quite surprised if the 13 watt bulbs produced 60 watts of heat. :p
madmax

[disneyjoe7]

Thanks Steve. I have been missing a lot lately. Next week I am thinking about getting a little sleep.

Not a problem, just having a little fun with ya. :)

[brettw22]

Keep an eye at Home Depot because when they clear those out, you can get them for about $1 per bulb. Also, if you call your local power company, they might be running some sort of subsidized program where you can buy the full size (instead of the mini's) for $1 each.

When I lived in IL, I bought like 12 of the full sized, then 5 or 6 of the 4 packs and still have them...........good stuff.

[madmax]

These LED light bulbs look kinda neat too.
http://www.besthomeledlighting.com/new_led_light_bulbs

[steveinaz]

Cool Max. That may be a possible soultion for the kitchen track lighting...

[madmax]

ccrane has a nice selection too. http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

I've been looking at them because the new house has a ton of lighting and I don't want to be afraid to use it. I don't mind the higher one time expense but don't want the high monthly bills. My old house had very limited lighting. I like the idea of being "green" too.

What I really want is a nice 12V system with a battery/solar cell which charges during the day and provides decent interior/exterior illumination for most of the night. Maybe even 12V LCD TV operation in the kitchen and a power inverter for other 120V lightweight needs. Not a replacement for AC but something that takes care of the everyday normal needs when you don't care to burn the AC line. Who knows, maybe even a nice stereo setup with the 12V T-amps, a DC CD player and some really efficient speakers.

madmax

[steveinaz]

The low voltage scenario sounds like a neat, inexpensive solution; especially for just accent/ambient lighting.

[Willow]

All of ours have been changed as well, except our pot lights in the fam room (on a dimmer) and the ones in our ceiling fan. They don't make them small enough yet, ie the candle shaped ones. Oh our dinning room chandelier doesn't have them either. Now I was at Wallyworld and they have dimming ones now but they don't fit or are too strong for what we need them. They are coming along.