Canada is phasing out the incandescent for the most part by the end of 2014. I am skeptical of whether there will actually be an energy savings for the consumer and an overall money saving. Many nations have already phased out the incandescent. How do you folks like the LED bulbs? Are you realizing savings on your electricity bill? Is buying online a better solution than visiting stores like Home Depot? Usage: November 15th - December 13th 2013: 972.4368 kWh On Peak: 251.4450 Mid-Peak: 162.8628 Off-Peak: 558.1290 December 13th -January 16th 2014: 1698.4050kWh On Peak: 346.9758 Mid-Peak: 245.3598 Off-Peak: 1106.0694 wow, usage almost doubled! The LED's are not installed during this billing period. This is also during Canadian winter and the furnace fan is running more and we use a oil filled electric radiator to heat our bathroom to prevent the pipes from freezing. January 16th - February 14th 2014: 1170.7032kWh On Peak: 249.4770 Mid-Peak: 164.1378 Off-Peak: 757.0884 A welcomed reduction in usage from the Christmas season. The LED lightbulbs have been installed for this billing period. The next billing period will have the same type of weather conditions and will likely produce a similar usage. February 14th-March 18th 2014: 808.1040kWh On Peak: 191.9688 Mid-Peak: 128.6904 Off-Peak: 487.4448 On-Peak Winter: 7am-11am, 5pm-7pm Mid-Peak: 11am-5pm Off-Peak: 7pm-7am, Weekends and Holidays.
My wife and I have switched to CFL bulbs, not LED. They legitimately put out more light for less energy. Incandescent bulbs waste massive amounts of electricity on heat output. CFL bulbs are more expensive at the register, but they use about 1/4 of the energy of an incandescent to put out the same amount of light. Some people don't like the color of the light, but these days there are a lot more choices and you can buy CFL bulbs with "warmer" light output that gives you a bit more of that orangey kind of color.
The US actually phased out incandescent bulbs January 1st, 2014. 1. I like the LEDs so far - I have two 40w LEDs, one in my bedside lamp, the other in my desk lamp. Soft, pleasant light that doesn't get hot. I have a pair of 60w LEDs that also functioned very well, but were too bright for the bedside/desk. Now I'm just waiting for a CFL to break/blow and I'll swap them out. 2. Tough to tell - I started transitioning to CFLs and LEDs gradually. Winter caused the usual spike in the bill, so I don't have enough data to make an Excel sheet. 3. Meh. I buy my LEDs when Home Depot runs a sale - the two 40w LEDs were on sale, $5 a unit. Normally $10, give or take. I can't say that I've ever seen any good deals on LED bulbs (EtA: online), but then I haven't been looking very hard either. I'm actually transitioning away from CFLs because of the potential UV issue, as well as the mercury. The fact that incandescent bulb have already been phased out makes it easier, actually, since I know I really only have two choices.
I am with you on the CFL's. I had the house full of them 10years ago but I switched back to incandescents for various reasons.
CFLs have their own issues. I have personally seen two of them go up in smoke-literally, the integrated ballast in the base failed, resulting in smoke and melted plastic. Also, they contain mercury in them, so precautions are needed if cleaning up a broken bulb. Also, CFLs suck bad in the cold. If you live in a cold climate, they are terrible for outdoor, patio, garage...etc lighting. When they are cold, the color temp and light output is miserable. The warm up time can be so long that you may find your task in the area done before they are up to full output. LEDs will take over the consumer lighting market at the same pace they took over the flashlight market. One place you can see this already is in aquarium lighting. It may sound silly, but people into aquariums (especially saltwater) need the highest light output with the lowest energy consumption, and lowest heat output. They also need the light to be within specific color temperatures. LEDs have rapidly pushed CFLs out of the aquarium lighting business in just a couple of years. They can be combined in arrays to give extremely high output, very specific color temps, and they generate less heat than any of the other choices. The same things hold true for general purpose consumer lighting. I have a Sharp manufactured LED bulb in one of my workbench lights. It has a remote that allows me to adjust the color temperature, and output
This is SO true.. I hate CFLs with a passion.. They have crappy ballasts that cause the light to fail sooner than it should.. If you have less than optimal power, the light will fail even sooner. CFLs also use mercury, which will likely be proven to be worse on the environment than tungsten bulbs ever were. If they can get LEDs to a higher CRI (above 92) in household bulbs for <$10 I would go that direction.. They also need to be dim-able. Which Sharp bulb do you have? I'd love to try it.
It's the Sharp DL-L08A1900A, but there may be an updated model. It has the same profile as an incan, so it compatible with almost any fixture. I got this one for free, but will by more as needed.
I have a few CFLs and a few LEDs around the house. CFLs work better inside than outside because of colder weather they need to warm up to full brightness. The darn problem is the Hydro company keeps (and always will) raising the rates. So how are we supposed to save ? Hydro knows we are becoming more energy conscious, sooo, they'll want their money back. Some things we can't control; the fridge needs to run, the furnace too. Whichever newer bulbs you buy, keep the bill ! One of my CFLs failed (the ballast) so I sent it to the manufacturer with the bill. They sent me a new 6 pack of bulbs, that's what I originally bought, not just the one bulb.
I agree with this, it has happened with water consumption. They push consumers to use less water and everyone adopts low flow devices and the utilities come back saying they need to raise rates as the consumers are using less water which equals less income for the utility. It would be great to see an efficiency created where it does actually save the consumer money in the long run.
I found an online coupon from the Ontario Power Authority for led bulbs. $5 off, limit 5 coupons per product per customer. That is a pretty good discount. I will try it tonight and see if the home depot will honour it.
I switched from mostly CFL to mostly LED so I didn't notice a utility cost difference. Other than the initial cost they are great. The output and color are good and no warm up time, mercury, or UV. I got Cree 6W and 9.5W 2700k bulbs. The 6w are very close to 60w incandescent output and the 9.5w are noticeable brighter. Not sure how things are up there, but in my area utility companies offer instant rebates. The stores in the area my utility company covers sell the Cree 6w bulbs for $10, but If I drive to the next city which is covered under another utility company the same bulbs are $5.
Yeah, the water meter...here in Toronto they have already begun replacing the water meter with new ones, getting mine installed next week, which is mandatory. Supposed to be much more accurate and a wireless transmitter that sends in your reading. The city has already implimented and water rate increase; 9% every year for 9 years. As for the light bulbs, I've considered walking around the house with a flashlight, but I don't want the neighbours calling the cops thinking there is a burglar in the house. Someone on CPF or maybe here, did this trying out a new light, the police surrounded the house and made him come out with his hands up ! "...but I live here..." !!!!!!!! Kripto - glad you like the avatar, just Google Image Rush and you'll have one too !
I switched from all incandescent to all cfl early last year, then saw the mercury health warnings and switched back to incandescent lights. My kids are light breaking magnets, I do not want mercury ladened glass impregnated into my kids feet. I am going to stock up as much as possible on all the incandescent lights I can grab. Then I'm going to find a good local source of LED lights and start to switch them out.
I don't know what kind of energy savings there is in the home with switching bulb styles. Here at work though, we are slowly swapping out the old style incandescent lights with LED lights. There was not a large difference in energy savings between the two. Yes there was a savings of energy, but not enough for a respectable ROI from just the energy savings. Building scaffolding was the real money savings that is driving this project. These lights are run 24/7/365, and usually last about 6-12 months. The LED lights last ten years per the manufacturer. I say all this to point out that you will likely save more energy by not turning the light on vs the type of bulb installed. Some pictures of the light I'm talking about. These lights put out 250 watts of light. We have several hundred in the plant. These are 100 watt LED lights we are retrofitting into the plant. The black ring around the perimeter are cooling fins. The ballast is rated for hazardous environments so it is a little bit larger than normal.
Just an FYI, for those living in the USA, while incandescent bulbs are verboten as of the first of this year, there is an exception for industrial uses; that is to say, heavy duty bulbs can still be incandescents. So you can still get them, they are just not going to be the breakeverythreemonthsfoundatLowes kind. Just look up "Newcandescent". Where there is a will there is a way. And if hippies still want to reduce their carbon footprint, they can always still jump off a bridge.
