How many folks use the energy saving bulbs?

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This dimmable high-powered 4.8-watt flame tip chandelier is a direct replacement for a incandescent 40 watt flame tip chandelier bulb. It uses less energy than an incandescent, which saves money on energy costs and has an average life of 25,000 hours.

^Appears to be so.

Same ones I have been using over our dining table for over a year now.
8 of them are quite bright and they dim down to a faint glow.
They are perfect for over the dining room table.

I bought another type for our outside light on our deck, bit brighter.
It replaces a 60W Candelabra bulb, 2700K so like a normal incandescent as far as look.
Was $15 for it though.

51VU3118kXL.jpg


http://toolshomebestus.com/candelab...rm-light-long-life-40000-hrs-or-36-5-yrs-ene/
 
While I generally applaud folks conserving energy, you have to take a serious look at cost-savings. While 8, 40 watt lamps in a dining room chandelier may seem like a lot, if it's never on, you're not using any energy. If it's rarely on but dimmed down 50%, it still doesn't use much energy. But calculate the cost of LED replacement vs the true cost of using the incandescent and you may find it's a 10 or 15 year payback to convert.
 
While I generally applaud folks conserving energy, you have to take a serious look at cost-savings. While 8, 40 watt lamps in a dining room chandelier may seem like a lot, if it's never on, you're not using any energy. If it's rarely on but dimmed down 50%, it still doesn't use much energy. But calculate the cost of LED replacement vs the true cost of using the incandescent and you may find it's a 10 or 15 year payback to convert.

True, although in our case we use this light for several hours a day.
Although we have in fact replaced EVERY single bulb/fixture in and outside the house even ones we rarely ever use, in our case mostly because we are selling our house soon and want to be able to say the entire house is 100% LED with 20++ year bulbs as a selling point.
I think we have spent around $350 to replace every bulb in the house including taking down old ugly fixtures and replacing with nice LED CAN lights that are 100X better looking and functioning so in most cases not just the economical factor but also way better appearance, plus the selling point of having 100% LED was well worth the $350.
We have had most of these in place for about 3 years now and even if we only save on average $3 a month that would still be $108 taken off the $350 already PLUS never having to change a bulb would also start to add up.

One other advantage for us at least is that we live in a Townhome that is nestled into and surrounded by large trees, even though we are in an end unit so only ONE wall is joining we still have very little natural light coming in during the DAY, especially upstairs. So we keep the lights on pretty much 100% of the time in a couple parts of the house and just adjust the dimmer instead of flipping the on/off switch, it is also very nice at night to have most of the house very dimly lit so we can walk down to the Kitchen in a nice warm glow that is just enough to see everything, plus taking the dog out to pee at 12 Midnight every night everything is lit plus the outdoor front porch light is a dawn to dusk automatic LED and we have Solar powered dawn to dusk lights lighting the whole pathway.

I just did a quick calculation of just our porch light which is easy to calculate because it burns on average 10 hours a night 12 months out of the year and at full brightness not dimmed.
It used to be a 60W incandescent, it is now a 60+W LED, actually seems quite a bit brighter than the old porch light.

60W/1000KW=0.06 KWH used per hour X 0.11 cents per KWh x 300 hours per month is about $1.98 per month to burn that one old 60W incandescent.

now its 10W/1000KW = 0.01KWh used per hour X 0.11 cents pr KWh x 300 hours is 0.33 cents per month for the new LED porch light that is brighter.

Cost savings of just that ONE light is $1.65 month or $20 a year. The whole fixture was $29 at Costco so will completely pay for itself in 18 months PLUS will burn for at least the next 20 years, on average I think I replaced that 60W bulb about every 2 years or so probably save the cost of at least 8 bulbs to boot.
I believe we have 37 lights in the house, a few rarely burn, some 1-5 hours a day and at least 5 burn pretty much 24/7 though dimmed most of that time.
Then of course in the summer the ZERO heat output that needs to be taken out with the AC, wouldn't even know how to guess that in AC savings.

If I had to guess I would have to say that we probably average about a $10 per month savings total from the LED or $120 a year.
We have already saved as much as we spent on them if that guess is even close.
 
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When you calculate your savings you need to understand that the 20+ years life that the manufacturers note is based on 3 hours per day...not 10. So cut your life expectancy by 70%. While it's brighter now, you do get lumen fade with both CFLs and LEDs. Also you need to add in your cost of labor to install the new fixture. Even if it's your own labor.
I'm not arguing that it's not a good idea to change, in that particular case it's a no brainer.
 
When you calculate your savings you need to understand that the 20+ years life that the manufacturers note is based on 3 hours per day...not 10. So cut your life expectancy by 70%. While it's brighter now, you do get lumen fade with both CFLs and LEDs. Also you need to add in your cost of labor to install the new fixture. Even if it's your own labor.
I'm not arguing that it's not a good idea to change, in that particular case it's a no brainer.

Well in this particular porch light the claim is at least 60,000 hours with at least 70% of lumens maintained up to that point.
That works out to over 16 years at an average of 10 hours per day and that is just the maintaining of 70% of its brightness which starts at 880 Lumens or about 70W after 16 years it is still 620 Lumens at 70% which is about the same as a 50-55W bulb after 16 years.

Really all of this will completely moot point in just a couple more years because you wont even be able to buy incandescent bulbs for much longer.
Most all already banned like 75-100-60-40W are not even made anymore.

which is a good thing because then LED will get even cheaper and they really are a WAY better light source.
They will most likely get even better, last longer and cheaper.

Hell in 20 years or so a new home will come with what amounts to permanent lighting.
 
Also you need to add in your cost of labor to install the new fixture. Even if it's your own labor.
I'm not arguing that it's not a good idea to change, in that particular case it's a no brainer.


Labor to install a new fixture? Most are just swapping out a bulb that would have needed swapping out anyway. With LEDs hard to reach bulbs are definitely no brainers to swap out once and you'll probably never touch that bulb again during your ownership of the house. I think of these homes with two story foyers and can lights in the ceiling. Most people don't have a 12-16 foot high step ladder.

We had fixtures in our church fellowship hall/contemporary worship space that required a lift to swap the bulbs. We'd swap all of them out when we changed any one of them because the lift rental was more expensive than the bulbs. We have since gone to more efficient longer lasting lights in that space.

Wattage is a term that is easier to understand. At some point lumens will become more recognized. We still call regular gas unleaded even though it hasn't had lead in over 35 years.
 
I was referring to the new porch fixture that nunyabiz1 purchased at Costco, and the "old ugly fixtures and replacing with nice LED CAN lights". they changed.

I think those are normal upgrades for style and I wouldn't include that in savings or expence of the new bulbs.
 
I was referring to the new porch fixture that nunyabiz1 purchased at Costco, and the "old ugly fixtures and replacing with nice LED CAN lights". they changed.

Yep, each one Can Lights and Porch lights took about 15 minutes each to install, so not bad.
The can lights fit right into the existing Jbox that was there from the old crappy fixtures, so its just take old one down and put new one up type thing.
 
Good Morning all, new here, and so far very impressed, lots of great info here.. I was putting all CFL's in all my fixtures, but have been learing how much cheaper the LED's are. So I am now switching them all to LED's, Pretty expensive, but I belive that is the way to go..
 
Why not just get an LED screw-in light bulb?

If you are referring to me then the reason I changed fixtures is because the old ones were 28 years old and ugly as hell, those old brass colored rings with a ugly funky looking globe hanging down about 8-9" with a bare bulb in it.
Vs now very nice looking inset can light just a white ring that blends into the ceiling with a white 6" flat LED, when it is turned on you can barely even see the fixture itself its just nice bright light coming out of the ceiling.
Sooooo much better looking, brighter, zero heat output, and uses 575% less electricity, 13W at full brightness Vs 75W.

The porch light was the same, not quite as ugly but old, brass, starting to rust and wasn't working properly anymore.
The new one doesn't even have a bulb in it, it has a series of the small strip like LED diodes up inside it. Looks way better, brand new, works great and again uses WAY less electricity and for as long as my wife and I are going to be here certainly will not have to worry about changing anymore bulbs anywhere again.
 
Absolutely. If you're changing the fixture for appearances or safety, then I'm totally in. As I was reading this thread casually, i got the impression that it was about switching one can for another.
 
That is what was so nice about the LED "can" lights is the fact that they really aren't actually can lights, so no need to bore a big hole in the ceiling, take out the old Jbox, get up into the attic and insulate around the tops with an airtight cap etc. Traditional Can Lights are a nightmare in the Attic, put out a tremendous amount of heat and leak air like a chimney.

The LED can lights simply install right inside of the old Jbox, it is basically just a LED bulb with a ring around it, zero heat build up, no or very little air leakage.
Ours 3 years ago were about $30 each and that was a steal compared to if I replaced those fixtures with actual can lights it would have been way more expensive with 10X the work to install plus create huge amounts of heat.
Today you can get decent LED can lights for under $15, a person would literally be a fool to not use the LED version today if they want the look of can lights.
 
Changing any and all bulbs to LEDs including exterior spots. Purchase when on sale especially at Costco where they have 1/2 price sales often. Have several CFLs that I will gladly give away. Pure Junk
 
Due to fact that the old type light bulbs were mandated to stop production as if January 2014 yes I will be using them until the supply runs out of the old type, although I have noticed at the Nursing home that I am a maintenance man at uses nothing but the energy savers and they don't last much longer than the old type, so much for the so called 5 year lifespan of them!
 
Does anyone know how much if any money is saved with an LED dimmed to 50% or so? I only have one fixture that is dimmable and that's a ceiling fan with a light kit which has two 40 watt equivalent LED's in it. We keep it dimmed most of the time and it's on 24/7.
 
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