LED Bulbs

[PADemD]

Went shopping for light bulbs last night. The LED bulbs were $14. With an average of 4-5 lights per room, how are people supposed to light their homes if they are on Social Security or a minimum wage? It will cost me approximately $150 to change all the lights in my home.

[djean111]

1. The prices are coming down. Lowes has them on sale a lot, and I have seen LEDs for very good

prices online. Here is a list of current prices for LEDs at Lowes - and Lowes does have some great sales on these at times.

http://www.lowes.com/Light-Bulbs/LED-Light-Bulbs/Standard-LED-Light-Bulbs/_/N-1z10ht3/pl?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1#!&Ns=p_product_price%7C0&page=1

I am on social security. I still have some incandescents, I bought them up as they were being phased out. I just do not like the disposal problems with the CFLs, and halogens are too hot. I don't leave a light on in any room that is not being used. I live in Florida, and cannot afford to run my air conditioner any more, so I am not using that much electricity anyway. I will replace everything with LEDs, as I can afford them. But like I said, prices are coming down, and I read that some English firm has invented a way to make LEDs really cheaply, so I think that will drive prices down eventually, too.

[PADemD]

13. 5-Bulb Candelabra Style Dining Room Light

At Lowe's $7.98/bulb, plus shipping.

The closest Lowe's is 14 miles, one way.

[djean111]

14. Yikes! I would have to do it one or two at a time.

Anyway, I would do an internet hunt, but then I love the thrill of the hunt for this sort of thing.

[kristopher]

21. Amazon 60Weq 6 pack $31 = $2 shipping, or 10 pack for $50 with free shipping.

And if you don't like them, don't buy them. It's your money you are throwing out the window because the fact is that on a full life cycle basis they save a great deal of money over incandescent bulbs.

[Kaleva]

2. Change out 1-2 bulbs a month.

Start out by replacing the ones used most often and then lastly the ones rarely used.

[think]

3. Sounds like good strategy /nt

[JeffHead]

4. I've been changing them as they burn out.

I agree that changing them all at once is a bit pricey. I have four coach lights on my garage that I swapped out about four years ago. They operate on a dusk to dawn photo-cell and they are still going strong. I immediately noticed the difference on my electric bill. Definitely worth it.

[Scuba]

5. I'm going all-LED in the house I bought and am remodelling. It'll save dough in the long run.

[beachbum bob]

6. first thing, many LED bulbs can be had for as low as $5 when on sale

the 40 to 60 watt standard base types, so price isn't terribly bad. Develop a strategy to replace the bulbs that are used the most often as not every light in a room is on all the time. Look online for sale prices. I have replace nearly 20 bulbs this way and need another 20 replaced as prices come done on LED R20/R30 flood lights. Otherwise, make sure all the rest are good CFLs. I also replaced all my 2ft and 4ft flourescent T12 fixtures with T5s and T8s. Overall, I saw nearly a 20% monthly reduction in electrical use by doing this.

[PADemD]

7. No CFL's!

Our "local" recycling for CFL's is only twice a year with a 50-mile round trip drive.

[yeoman6987]

8. 150 dollars but the bulbs last a very long time.

If you are on SS, it might be a one and done forever. Some bulbs last practically forever.

[djean111]

10. The thing about being on Social Security - there are many people for whom that $150 is what they

have to spend for food, if they have that much left over after bills are paid. So doing it all at once is impossible. Luckily, replacing bulbs all at once is probably not going to be an issue for most people.

[yeoman6987]

12. That's true

I didn't mention replacing one every two months or anything like that because a few others did. But you are right 150 could wreck havock on a monthly budget.

[mopinko]

9. have a rental property and spent $600 on led bulbs

and the fucking tenant STOLE THEM!!
ceiling fans in almost every room, 3-4 lights each.
replaced them all w walgreens cheapo bulbs.
cops laughed at me that i wanted to file charges.

[Historic NY]

16. I hope you kept the security deposit...

[mopinko]

20. she had already burned it.

i was just happy to see the back of her.

[handmade34]

11. made me think of this...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/04/130430-light-bulb-labeling/


"...fewer (conservatives) will buy such bulbs when they're labeled as being good for the environment...)


hopefully you will find some bulbs on sale

[mackdaddy]

15. Just Replace them one at a time, most used first.

If you look at how you use lights, there is probably a light that is on the most, a dining room light, or a table light in the den. Replace these first, and then on to the next most used bulb next month.

[OKIsItJustMe]

22. The method I use is, replace bulbs as they burn out

Chances are good that you will accomplish the same thing, with less thought. (i.e. the most used bulbs will tend to burn out faster than the least used bulbs.)

[madokie]

17. I changed all of ours out for

6 bucks a piece. Some I bought at home depot

40 watt equivalent Daylight. Thats the difference too. 40 watt natural light bulbs weren't bright enough for shit but the 40 watt daylight at 500 lumens are perfect.

[enlightenment]

18. I saw something interesting

the other day, while looking at various "tiny home" designs. A gentleman with limited funds built a very DIY tiny home. It does have electricity, but he wanted to keep the cost down, so instead of installing light fixtures, he bought white Christmas lights (LED) and strung them around the ceiling. Granted, the space was relatively small, but it was an interesting solution.

There is also an online source for LED bulbs that might help (they sell the strings of lights, but also regular and LED bulbs in various wattage equivalencies - I saw some 60W LED bulbs for around $6):

https://www.1000bulbs.com/

[hunter]

19. They are subsidized here in California.

Good quality compact fluorescents are a dollar, and LEDs about $4.50. (The crappier bulbs with power circuitry that fails in three years or less, are not subsidized.)

Subsidized compact fluorescents are in all the dollar stores, Salvation Army, and Goodwill.

It's cheaper than building new power plants.

We've used compact fluorescents since the mid 90's, and now as they fail, we replace them with LEDs. Replacing lightbulbs has been a rare expense in our houshold for a long time now, and the overall cost of the CFs or LEDs is much less than we ever paid for incandescent bulbs and the electricity they used. Even without the subsidized bulbs this would still be true.