Converting House over to LED Bulbs

[churchmouse]

My Grandkids and Daughter moved in with us in June of last year. It was a constant battle with getting them to turn lights off. I went through and replaced all of the bulbs in the house with LED bulbs when Menards had them on sale and 11% rebate. The cost was under $2 each.

It isn't as much about instant savings as it is about me not having to yell "Turn off the cotton picking lights, money doesnt grow on trees". Oh crap I've turned into my father.

Another benefit is being able to run my whole house off the generator when the grid power goes down. Gas range, furnace, water heater and fireplace means the 5500 watt genny does just fine to run water pump, furnace, fridge, freezer, TV's and lights.

My spouse has no idea that the light switch will actually go the other way once put in the on position.
We have had classes on the proper use of the modern light switch to no avail.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I installed a motion sensor switch in the bathroom when the grandkids were little and starting to be able to go potty by their self.
Was also fun when visitors walked in and the light went on automatically.
Worked good until I upgraded to LED's then I had to take it out because the voltage output wasn't high enough to light them with out strobing.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I'd have to run the numbers but my gut feeling is you'll never get the "payback" by converting a working incandescent bulb for an LED. If it's burned out and you're going to have to replace it anyway, sure. Or if it's a bulb you have on for many hours a day anyway, maybe. But to go around your house and swap out bulbs pre-emptively, my gut feel is there's no business case for that.

The math is pretty easy... 60 watt bulb vs 60 watt LED that draws 8 watts.

Electric cost, $0.10/kwh, 4 hrs per day on-time, 364 days per year.

60 watt * 4 hrs * 365 days /1,000 (convert watts to kw) * $0.10 = $8.76
8 watt* 4 hrs * 365 days /1,000 (convert watts to kw) * $0.10 = $1.17
Cost savings per year: $7.59
Double the on-time (more realistic for often-used lights in common areas and you double the savings.

Payoff is far less than 1 year, change out ALL your commonly used bulbs whether they need replaced or not. Keep the incans for lesser used places, especially those where you can't repurpose the old CFL's because of cold temps etc.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

The math is pretty easy... 60 watt bulb vs 60 watt LED that draws 8 watts.

Electric cost, $0.10/kwh, 4 hrs per day on-time, 364 days per year.

60 watt * 4 hrs * 365 days /1,000 (convert watts to kw) * $0.10 = $8.76
8 watt* 4 hrs * 365 days /1,000 (convert watts to kw) * $0.10 = $1.17
Cost savings per year: $7.59
Double the on-time (more realistic for often-used lights in common areas and you double the savings.

Payoff is far less than 1 year, change out ALL your commonly used bulbs whether they need replaced or not. Keep the incans for lesser used places, especially those where you can't repurpose the old CFL's because of cold temps etc.

And if you're on REMC power, the savings is even more. If your house is like mine, (all electric) you spend far more on things like heating, water heating, etc. than for a maybe a dozen light bulbs (the ones that are on more than just 10-30 minutes a day). Save where you can, I'm all for it. But lighting, in my house, is hardly going to make the needle twitch.

 

[Reverend Dreed]

I know that where I work we sell an off brand bulb that is crap. Usually get less than a month of service out of them. I am seriously thinking of getting my bulbs elsewhere even though with my employee discount (cost plus tax) I am paying about 30 cents each.

 

[Butch627]

I am having trouble fitting them into some of my appliances. For instance they will not screw in to my 10 year old garage door opener and make contact.

 

[Vilage.Idiot]

On a different line of thinking......
has anyone given ant thought to the notion that LED lamps do not emit infrared light which apparently is essential to eye health?
i have been considering the swap myself , but wonder what the long term health effects might be.
i also understand that there are alarmists and that someuwill find something unhealthy with everything. Just looking to see if it is a legit concern

 

[churchmouse]

On a different line of thinking......
has anyone given ant thought to the notion that LED lamps do not emit infrared light which apparently is essential to eye health?
i have been considering the swap myself , but wonder what the long term health effects might be.
i also understand that there are alarmists and that someuwill find something unhealthy with everything. Just looking to see if it is a legit concern

I have never heard this.
My eyes are already beat up so....well......

 

[Vilage.Idiot]

The articles I read were essentially that the eyes needed infrared spectrum to heal daily., but wouldn't there be enough other sources to make the loss of it in your home negligible??

 

[churchmouse]

The articles I read were essentially that the eyes needed infrared spectrum to heal daily., but wouldn't there be enough other sources to make the loss of it in your home negligible??

Sunlight...???
This might effect some basement dwellers.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

The articles I read were essentially that the eyes needed infrared spectrum to heal daily., but wouldn't there be enough other sources to make the loss of it in your home negligible??

Yeah but just think about the fact you're reducing CO2 emissions from power plants which means you won't drown when all of the ice caps melt...your eyes won't do you any good if you're drowned in the risen sea levels.

 

[Vilage.Idiot]

I'm an electrician by trade. My favorite type of light is a halogen, because it gives a nice crisp white light. I hated the compact fluorescents and it too a while for LED's to get their color right ( they started out pretty blue)
now that the color is better I'm more inclined to make the switch and some "expert " comes along and throws a wrench in the works with the whole red light spectrum guess I just gotta bite the bullet and make a decision.

 

[churchmouse]

I made the mistake of showing the spouse the math on expense to run these lamps.
She comes through and the switch goes on and I come through later and turn them all off.

So now since we have made the switch she thinks me getting on her about this is a non-issue.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Unless the motion included built in LED, I wouldnt bother. For motions I still suggest incandescent. High output LED and ESPECIALLY CFLs are slooooow to come up to full brightness. (3 mins?) Especially in the winter. My mom gave me her 150w equivalent spiral floods because by the time the output became useable in the winter the fixture switched off. In the first 30 seconds of operation, they were maybe putting out 15w worth of light, but were rated at 300w for the pair. I now have them in my dusk to dawn fixture over my garage and they are great. By the time it actually gets dark they are running at full brightness.

As little as motions are on, there just isnt a payback for modern bulbs. I installed a motion on one side of my house a couple years ago. The traditional floods cost me a whopping $5 for the pair. At the current rate, my cost to replace will be pennies per year, and the usage will be almost nothing.

 

[Tactically Fat]

1000bulbs.com is a decent site to price-check.

At my house, we have an eclectic mix of all bulb types. ICD, CFL, LED, Halogen spots/floods, 4-ft fluorescent, 8-ft fluorescent...

ICD bulbs are getting betterer and betterer all the time, now, too. Supposedly a new ICD technology is even MORE efficient than even LED bulbs.

I was looking at shop lights yesterday. I've got a goofy mix of chain hanging and "flush" mount lights in one garage - all 4 footers. And then I've got 2 banks of 8 footers in the main car garage. Those are chain-hangers. I imagine that once those bulbs go out, I'll just spend the money and get new LED hangers. I need to double check how they're powered, though. I'd hate to call an electrician just for that. But, if I call an electrician for that, I may as well upgrade the other garage to. 7-8 4-footers back there. *sigh* It's just money, ain't it?

 

[terrehautian]

I have 99.9% led bulbs in my house. The only few things that are not is appliances and garage lighting. Garage has new led shop lights waiting to be installed and if we replace appliances or bulbs in them, I will get them if I can.

 

[Cameramonkey]

1000bulbs.com is a decent site to price-check.

At my house, we have an eclectic mix of all bulb types. ICD, CFL, LED, Halogen spots/floods, 4-ft fluorescent, 8-ft fluorescent...

ICD bulbs are getting betterer and betterer all the time, now, too. Supposedly a new ICD technology is even MORE efficient than even LED bulbs.

I was looking at shop lights yesterday. I've got a goofy mix of chain hanging and "flush" mount lights in one garage - all 4 footers. And then I've got 2 banks of 8 footers in the main car garage. Those are chain-hangers. I imagine that once those bulbs go out, I'll just spend the money and get new LED hangers. I need to double check how they're powered, though. I'd hate to call an electrician just for that. But, if I call an electrician for that, I may as well upgrade the other garage to. 7-8 4-footers back there. *sigh* It's just money, ain't it?

ICD?

 

[CampingJosh]

I replaced all my bulbs in the house and at the camp (over 120 bulbs) with LEDs. It has been going on for four years now, though I did about 90 of them all at once last May. I've yet to have a bulb fail, and the ROI on the LED bulbs is somewhere 6 - 8 months.

Now we're working on switching all the T-12 and T-8 florescent tube lighting to LED tubes (keeping the high-bay T-5 tubes for now). This is looking like it will cost about $5,500 (excluding labor), though Duke Energy will rebate 50% of that cost. Even if they wouldn't, ROI would be somewhere 10 - 16 months. (Yes, I have enormous electricity bills.)

 

[CountryBoy19]

And if you're on REMC power, the savings is even more. If your house is like mine, (all electric) you spend far more on things like heating, water heating, etc. than for a maybe a dozen light bulbs (the ones that are on more than just 10-30 minutes a day). Save where you can, I'm all for it. But lighting, in my house, is hardly going to make the needle twitch.

I just bought a place in Duke territory with ground-loop geo heating (heats the DHW too), insulated VERY well. My total electric bill mid-Dec through mid-Jan was $49. Lighting would likely almost double that amount with the number of lights we have.

That being said, even if it would barely make the needle twitch it would still yield cost-savings, and cost-savings aare cost-savings...

 

[Tactically Fat]

ICD = incandescent