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| Light Bulbs
I've replaced all of my light bulbs with Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulbs and can't wait to replace some of those with LED bulbs when they become more available (and cheaper). I notice that my power bill dropped around 15% because of that. Then the rate and other fees raised it so now the electrical is the same as two years ago, but I’m using less. The life expectancy of the fluorescent bulb is about 5 years, so I will save some time and money by not having to replace as frequently. These bulbs use generally 1/4th of the wattage of incandescent bulbs. For instance, a 60 watt CFL bulb uses only 13 watts of power. They also have a lower operating temperature, so they are cooler in the summer.
This is the first thing you should do. You can stop buying incandescent bulbs and buy florescent instead. Especially for outdoor security lights that stay on at night. The draw back with them is that they take a few minutes to come up to full brightness, so you might not want them for motion sensor lights. They take around 2 minutes to come to full bright. Also, these bulbs may be a disposal hazard as they contain stuff that isn’t good for the environment. I think they will have a recycling thing for these in the near future to take care of the disposal and reuse. A typical 60 watt replacement CFL can cost approximately $2.00 and higher. Prices depend on whether you want the traditional spiral, compact spiral, a “regular” bulb shape, or a tubular design.
LED lights will be the best saver and the longest lasting. There is very little heat from the light, they can last 50,000 hours, and they could pay for themselves in a year for a situation where they replace a regular bulb that is use a lot. They do cost a little more as one 60 watt bulb that looks like a “regular” bulb, costs $23.00 and higher. I’m betting these are like the fluorescent kind in that they will lower in price as they are produced more. A replacement flood light LED bulb for a 100 watt application could cost around a hundred dollars (told you I was going to wait for price reduction).
These are not the only sites for bulbs, just ones I used to compare prices. I bought most of my bulbs from Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and Food Lion at a lot higher prices…
CFL 60 watt replacement bulb
http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/CFSpecials/SP1327
LED 60 watt replacement bulb
http://www.ledbulb.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=A60%2DE26%2D5%2E2W%2DF
LED 100 watt replacement Flood
http://www.ledbulb.com/product-p/par30-15w.html | |
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