LED lights, in my home. Thinking about converting everything

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cudaracer

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So with kids that leave lights on constantly, I mean like all day, I was thinking about converting all the lights in my house to LED. The power consumption reduction should be very substantial, although my initial cost would be a few hundred bucks.


Got me thinking.
What if everyone converted as well. Would that not be a huge reduction on the power grid?
 
Yes it would, so much that the power companies would raise thier rates to make up for the lost revenue. :)
 
TrailBeast said:
Yes it would, so much that the power companies would raise thier rates to make up for the lost revenue. :)
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And that's the bitter truth. They need to replace a line because of age or storm damage, WE get the cost passed down to us!
 
cudaracer said:
So with kids that leave lights on constantly, I mean like all day, I was thinking about converting all the lights in my house to LED. The power consumption reduction should be very substantial, although my initial cost would be a few hundred bucks. Got me thinking. What if everyone converted as well. Would that not be a huge reduction on the power grid?
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thats what I was going to do. Im evidently married to a 26yo kid that leaves lights on and the cabinet doors open...
 
LOL, I keep telling myself I will miss the lights being left on, when they are gone.

But man oh man, they go into my basement where I have about a dozen lights, and they turn them all on, and leave them. So, about 800 watts burning brightly, sometimes all night too.
 
But at 25.00 a pop that adds up to a lot of money
 
My monthly electric bill is over 380. I bet I can save 75 per month.

And I see them for less than 25 in large bundles.
 
At Lowes here it's $25.00 a pop but I have been thinking about it heavily myself.
 
I haven't kept up with "whut's happ'inin" with LEDs I CAN tell you this. I freekin HATE most of these CFLs

They don't work in out-of-door places in the cold, and it don' hava'ta get very cold

They take time to "light up" when cool

They are irritating to read by..........I've always disliked reading with flourescent lighting

They are expensive to buy

They don't last nearly as long (in many cases) as the guarantee says

The manufacturers have made it nearly impossible such that they will honor the warrantee

AND WORSE when you really really WANT to buy actual incandescent lamps, nobody carries any stock anymore!!!!
 
Ive heard some of the cheaper lower quality LED bulbs can cause headaches and such because of the LED driver flicker. It'd be interesting to buy a cheap one and see what happens.
 
MoparDaddy said:
thats what I was going to do. Im evidently married to a 26yo kid that leaves lights on and the cabinet doors open...
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your not alone brother

I once removed all the kitchen cabinet doors because she never closed them anyway
 
I think the 'payback' will take a lot longer than you are imagining. A 100 watt bulb left on 24/7 will cost less than a dollar a month to operate, IIRC.

Granted, LED lights cost only pennies (to operate) in comparison, but the initial investment will take years to recoup. Your mileage may vary...
 
bighammer said:
I think the 'payback' will take a lot longer than you are imagining. A 100 watt bulb left on 24/7 will cost less than a dollar a month to operate, IIRC.

Granted, LED lights cost only pennies (to operate) in comparison, but the initial investment will take years to recoup. Your mileage may vary...
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That right there is the whole deal. "They" want "us" to "go green" to save the planet and save energy, but nobody wants to give ME the "savings."

There's a hell of a lot of this stuff that isn't cheap in the long run for the consumer. From electric cars to 90% furnaces, often the downside for the actual owner does not result in any real savings.
 
I only have one in my house. I bought it because it seemed that the flood light at the bottom of the stairs in my family room kept burning out. so I bought a $27.00 LED flood light and it's been awesome. Lights up instantly and has been working fine for the last year. That's the thing you have to consider also, the LEDs will last a lot longer. Now on the CFL lights, the only ones I will buy is Sylvania. They seem to come to full brightness quicker and when they do they give off a light close enough to incandescent bulbs that if you had a shade on them you wouldn't know the difference. No harsh blue light. Anyway just my $.02
 
I thought what a good thing I did buying all cfl lights, last do much longer, better lighting etc. Wife hated them and as much as I tried to stand up for my purchase I knew she was right. Luckily family dollar still carried regular old light bulbs, now the led bulbs have me interested but I can't afford them at the current prices.
 
CFL...what a racket. Break one and you've got a toxic waste site. Saw a picture of a fella's foot after he accidentally stepped on a CFL bulb and got hospitalized with mercury poisoning...it was horrible. Be careful with those little hazardous waste bullets which are infecting our homes.
 
How about setting them up with motion sensors. They have these to replace wall switches, and they have an off feature to override them if you want em to stay off.
 
67Dart273 said:
I haven't kept up with "whut's happ'inin" with LEDs I CAN tell you this. I freekin HATE most of these CFLs

They take time to "light up" when cool

They are irritating to read by..........I've always disliked reading with flourescent lighting

They are expensive to buy

They don't last nearly as long (in many cases) as the guarantee says

AND WORSE when you really really WANT to buy actual incandescent lamps, nobody carries any stock anymore!!!!
Click to expand...


I don't like the CFL bulbs either. I can't stand the light. If I need to replace a 60 watt incadescent, I use a 100 watt equivalent CFL because the 60 watt CFL doesn't put out as much light as the incadescent bulbs.


In my front bathroom, there is a fixture that takes 3 mini halogen spotlights. When I was at Lowe's last year to buy a replacement, the employee told me that they were going to phase out those and many incadescent bulbs, so I stocked up on as much as I could of the old bulbs.

For some reason, I'm not as satisfied with the "new" bulbs as the old incadescent ones.


In the long hallway to my bedroom, there are 3 light fixtures that take 2 bulbs each. So I put in one incadescent and one CFL, When you turn the switch on, you see the incadescents light up immediately, then you see the delay that the CFL's take to light up.
 
We just built a new house with LED bulbs in all the very expensive hanging fixtures, and I hate every one of them! If you look directly at them, they blind you, yet they don't illuminate anything more than a couple of feet away. I have to turn on the high wattage, incandecent ceiling flood lights to do anything in the kitchen. That sure as heck isn't saving electricity!
 
The quality of light is a real consideration. I like the slow ramp-up of the CFLs for nightstand and bathroom use so you can get usable light without being blasted with intense illumination at night when you turn the lights on. For outdoor lighting that is on intermittently, like at the front door, a halogen incandescent.. it's instant-on and puts out the best light. In spaces where heat generation is a concern, like a goose-neck lamp built into an alarm clock, or something that came with a conventional bulb that makes the unit run too hot, or something that shouldn't carry a higher current through it, a new LED cluster bulb is fantastic.

Prices for high output LEDs are dropping. I'd wait, and save yourself a few bucks in the meantime by being mindful of what's on and for how long.
But when price is the only consideration, you may reach a point of false economy. One thing that bugs me is that the CFL bulbs, which are more toxic to produce and dispose of, are made so cheaply, the HV circuitry made of poor quality, overtaxed components, and they fail more quickly than advertised. On/off cycling kills them, I've seen some die an early death running continuously also.
 
I have found LED bulbs at home depot and lowes for under $10 floods for under $15
and I bought some used ones pretty cheap on ebay
 
If you do a price comparison and take into account projected lifespan I believe CFL's are still the better buy. The caveat is the manufacturer when talking CFL. GE, Sylvania etc., manufacturer or import a better quality CFL. I'm seeing ads for Home Depot's $12 LED all over the web but I still believe the price point is too high.
 
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