I recently got a power bill that sat me back on my heels. I thought I had a handle on that problem. Most all my lights are cfl's, and I am very cautious about using the AC. Here in Maine, we can go on the CMP web site and view our electrical usage by the hour, day or month. I turned things off and on, noting the time, then made some adjustments. I switched out my seldom used upright freezer for a small chest freezer. I switched out the outside lights for LCDs and I turned off a lot of stuff that I used to leave on, like my desktop, and several fans and lights in areas not occupied. My usage is cut in half. I thought at first there was an error, but the error was my behavior. It will be nice having a lower bill and really not loosing anything.
Good on ya for making all those changes. Years ago, I knew turning off lights was a good thing, but now, I know much more can be done. My laptop is in major sleep mode any time I'm doing something else, cfl's in every fixture, lights off when not in a room, phantom stuff on power strips. Open the curtains when I need more light. The one led bulb I got a couple months ago started flickering a few days ago. Not happy about that. I'll try it in another fixture before dumping it. All cfl lights have been in use for over 4 years. I had one die last year.
There is a world of differences in LED bulbs. I bought two from lowes a couple of years back. They flicker. Don't care for those at all. Then I bought some at HD and noted a huge difference. Now, that may be just because of advancements made in the past two years. I have bought about a dozen of the new led bulbs. They give bright light. They are dimmable, they work with dusk to dawn sensors. Another thing I did was getting some outside solar lights, LED with a motion detector. These really give some bright light. Not just the moonlight they used to give. They go off very quickly when there is no motion. My next project is going to be installing some LED pot lights in a dark corner of the family room. I really like getting the light of a 60 watt bulb using 9 watts, and I can dim that down!
the newest generation LEDs are phenomenal - particularly the offering by Philips, Cree and Lighting Science. I got some of those L-Prize lamps for $20 though a electric company subsidy program and absolutely love them. Too bad they got discontinued. HD is a great source because their ecosmart house brand are mostly made by the above 3 brands and offered at about half the price.
Started changing out CFLs for LEDs. The light is great from the Cree bulb in warm white. Had one do a flicker, but now has stopped. I use them outside in the house lamp and lamppost. The nice thing is that they go on instantly. The CFLs outside on a winter's night were like candles turning into kerosene lanterns with a five minute wait. When you turned them on. I'm definitely liking the LED now.
Very dimmable. I have HD ecosmart labeled Cree cr6 recessed light in my dining room. They dim as low as incan, just get a little whiter at low dim. They use 11w, are brighter than 65w halogen and in the HD label where 25 bucks with a built in trim.
Those are the brands I have and like. I am on a mission to change all the bulbs on dimmers to LEDs. I'll leave the ones that are on/off to the CFLs. Good light and lowest energy use. With the advertised life of the bulbs, these could well be the last ones I have to change out!
Call your local elec supply houses, (just a little tip from uncle Brian). I get my LED's with the rebate built in. I'm paying like $6 for a19 and a21's (normal lamps) and I think like $8 to 10 for par lamps.all GE and Phillips
LED's give off a much nicer light than CFL's. Things just seem sharper and clearer. Won't miss the CFL's a bit when they are finally replaced by LED's. Still waiting for the price of LED's to drop precipitously though. I think the major players are still fishing out those that don't mind paying the big bucks to finish their buying spree before we see a discount on the price. Up here it's $20 for a 50W halogen pot light swap-out. I'm not biting yet. But I must say I do like the outdoor motion light I got at Lowe's.
Just bought 2 LED bulbs from HD HERE and I cannot tell the difference, can you by seeing the wall reflection? (Two are LED and two are normal)
The difference will be what you see in your monthly bill. I have bee changing out bulks and monitoring the meter. My cost is going to be less than half what it was when I got my shocker bill. A real wake up call. I hate having dark areas in the room, but I'll be dammed if I am going to pay it to the power company for nothing. I am putting LEDs in the lights on dimmers and dusk to dawn. CFLs in the on off lights. I am also shutting down and turning off computers not in use.
H I will be swapping them out 4 at a time from here on out HD has the 4 pack for $70 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-9-5...-06527FLF-12DE26-1U110/204369018#.UlMm6l_D-Uk
I have been buying them a couple each month. Cost too much, but if they last, that will be good. I remember when the first CFLs came out. No instant on. Cost was also very high, but since then, I have able to get them in a multi pack for a buck. Some of the earlier LEDs were very disappointing, but no longer. They have a really nice light. I have two of The 60's and two of the 45s outside on dusk to dawn. Total watts under 36. I put one over the dining room table and one at my chair side. Both on dimmers. Very good. Will also be changing out for hallway lighting that is on most of the night. I think you will see some changes in option during the next few years as well as cost reduction.
It was a big chunk of change but we switched everything to LED and it is showing up on the Hydro bill already. We also have turned off the two TVs permanently and now there isn't the heat being generated by sleeping TVs, satellite dish receivers, sound system, etc. I really don't want to turn off the two (his and hers) computers though but that will be next, I am sure.
The wife and I both use laptops. Mine gets put to sleep every night and the power strip it's plugged into gets turned off. Hers just gets the lid closed. Very low power use, even when running, and once the battery is charged, I turn off the power strip to run on battery. 47" led tv is on a power strip also.
2 years ago I invested in one of these, http://www.theenergydetective.com/ted5000store/b-5002c.html It allows me to monitor the house loads while on utility or on my gen, I can turn a lamp on/off and instantly see the difference in my kw, or if I chose the actuall $ savings/cost.
