Peak Oil News and Message Boards

KaiserJeep wrote:...

Tanada wrote:Picked up two 75W/1100 lumen equivalent bulbs yesterday for overnight (security) lighting now that we are getting into the dark season of the year. These are Utilitech Pro brand rated at 3000K color frequency for 25,000 hours of useful life. They were the new brand on sale at Lowes and are shaped to fit a standard incandescent socket fixture/cover.

They consume 16 Watts of power in use and give off a bright white light, somewhat harsher than I would prefer. Hopefully they will stand up to harsh outside weather as well as the Sylvania LED spotlights I purchased last fall that they are supplementing to light up my back yard for security reasons.

One of the goals I had in my recent house renovation was to change every light bulb in the house to LEDs. I was dividing the house into two apartments and had to pull all the halogen spotlights out of the ceiling that was now a fire separation, and was finishing what was the basement, so new lighting was needed throughout. Most of the house was lit with compact fluorescents, and I never liked them very much.

But the main reason I could do this is the fact that in the last year, the cost of changing to LEDs has dropped like a stone. There is a wide range of bulbs now available for under ten bucks, and if you are willing to spend a bit more there are some very exciting things happening in the LED world.

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Isamu Akasaki, of Meijo University in Nagoya and Nagoya University, Japan; Hiroshi Amano, of Nagoya University, Japan; and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources."

Tanada wrote:I never had much luck with CFL's but I absolutely love my LED bulbs. They are durable, reliable, work in all weather indoors or out and very energy efficient.

jedrider wrote:One of my recent projects has been to replace EVERY incandescent/CFL/Florescent with an LED light bulb.
The prices are so low now, that this probably actually makes a lot of sense as well as cents.

The down lights were easy to replace at $35.00 each.

The rest of the bulbs ranged from $5.00 to $15.00 and it was hard to be satisfied with just one bulb type, so I would buy a few and when I was happy with the results, I would buy a few more or change bulbs when I found a more appropriate light for a specific location.

All-in-all, it is easy to spend a thousand on light bulbs, but in two years they would probably pay for themselves, and the lighting is actually BETTER.

Outcast_Searcher wrote:So what is your electric bill such that a small part of that (lighting) will PAY FOR ITSELF in two years? I likely spend well under $10 a month for lighting, and I'm not prone to running around turning off every light possible, and run various lights on a timer to make the house look occupied at night. I run CFL's, currently. (Cool, cheap, and VERY low energy consumption compared to what they replaced).

You remind me of the shopoholic who loads up the credit card because things are "on sale".

What do you do with the old bulbs? Throw them out?

I'm always amused at the first world idea of frugality by spending lots of money.

Here’s a great way to lower your electric bills, and still have all the ultra-bright light bulbs you want operating 24 hours a day! Innovative new light bulbs called P-Bulbs give out bright, steady light – yet use no electricity. P-Bulbs look like compact fluorescent light bulbs, but instead of using electricity to make the gas glow inside, they use depleted plutonium from an atomic power plant. That means with P-Bulbs, not only do you get all the light you want for free, but you’ll be helping the atomic energy industry dispose of its used fuel! How green can you get? P-Bulbs come in 100, 200, 400, 1,000 and 5,000-watt sizes – choose the brightness that’s right for you. You can have as many P-Bulbs as you want operating all night and all day long! That’s because they can’t be turned off – the plutonium is always active. Imagine never having to remember to turn the light off when you leave a room. Imagine having all the light you ever wanted, with no dark rooms – even your attic and basement can be brilliantly lit at all times. Imagine the amazing holiday displays you can create for your home and yard, because there’s no need to run electric cords anywhere! Remember to position your P-Bulbs as far from your family as possible, as the plutonium is radioactive and has a half-life of 10,000 years. If for any reason you want to get rid of your P-Bulbs, simply apply to the Atomic Energy Commission for a special disposal permit and concrete container. P-Bulbs will change the way you live your life forever!

Newfie wrote: But city inspector gave me some heartache about emergency lights I won't go into here.