LED light bulbs

[Toyboy]

I've been converting my home and garage to LED's for a couple of years now. I have a fairly sizable 2 level home that is 18yro and is just loaded with lighting. There is 41 65w ceiling spot lights alone between the 2 levels. I think with the the remaining lights there is over 100 in total.
Well, when the family is visiting it seems they don't realize the are OFF sides to the switches.
Since I've made the change we noticed the electric consumption has been reduced considerably on the bill and the AC does not run as much in the summer because of the reduced heat that comes with LED spot lights.
My garage is 3 bay two story also with most of the lighting on the 1st floor (21 sockets). There all the lighting comes from individual screw in bulbs. There I've used the Y adapters for 2 100w led's each which ony draws 15w each bulb. So i'm getting 200w of lighting for 30w actual draw.
How many others have done the conversion like I have ?

 

[ccoon520]

Our house is all LED now as well. Granted we only have a couple dozen lights in the house so haven't really seen an impact but I do like the longevity of the bulbs. Our biggest energy saver so far was updating our electric water heater from the early 90s to on demand LP. dropped electrical cost by 60 a month while costing like 10 a month in LP.

 

[Bmyers]

We initially switched to the fluorescent bulbs. As the price came down on the LED bulbs, we have switched everything over to the LED. I think everything, but our front porch light has been switch and I just haven't gotten out the ladder to do it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Every time I've converted to the newest 'energy efficient' bulbs, yes, I've saved on KwH ( actual energy used..) BUT then the hydro company bumps up the cost per KwH, so I'm still PAYING the same or more than using good old incandescent bulbs.... I even have to pay for line losses....

 

[Toyboy]

We initially switched to the fluorescent bulbs. As the price came down on the LED bulbs, we have switched everything over to the LED. I think everything, but our front porch light has been switch and I just haven't gotten out the ladder to do it.

The outside lights is one area I've not been concerned with. We rarely use them and if we do it's very brief.
The house and garage was a diferent story. The building contractors son in law is an electrician and this place is way over done. The circut breaker panel has 42 breakers

 

[skeets]

I am not as advanced as you guys, I put them in the kitchen in the recessed light fixtures and in the table lamps, and a couple 4 foot shop lights over the washer and dryer ,,they had 4 foot fluorescents, with the LEDs we found stuff we didnt know we lost ,,so yeah I like them, a bit on the harsh side bright wise and the soft ones a bit to soft. So slowly as bulbs burn out they get replaced with the LEDs. Now I just have to get rid of the T8s in the garage, that eat up ballasts like candy and put in some self ballasting 4 foot LEDs

 

[armylifer]

We converted every light to LED all at once. When we did, we noticed an immediate drop in our electric bill that covered the cost to buy the new bulbs. The decision to change all of them at once was made easier because Ace Hardware was running a special on LED bulbs and they were about 1/2 price. We are very happy with the LED bulbs, and the savings on the electric bill. The other benefit is that we have not had to change any burned out bulbs for more than 8 years.

 

[imnukensc]

When CFLs came out, I started switching over to them. When LEDs came out, I started switching over to them. I now have drawers full of incandescents and CFLs, but there's not a fixture or lamp in the house or shop that doesn't have LED.

 

[William1]

I have some LED's. However, they are not as dimmable as incandescent bulbs. I've had some wacky behavior in the low voltage (MR16) recessed cans. Lutron Dimmers.
The lights that are the old style recessed (PAR38???) dim fine. Some others dim to a point and either go off suddenly, flash or just plain act weird. I tried them in the garage door opener. The ones I got prevented me from closing the door at a distance if the lights were on (as they would be as you pull out of the garage).
At least LED's are not temperature sensitive and will work in the cold. At some point, I wll relace the fluorescent tube lights in the garage with LED's when the current bulbs have to be replaced.
I swapped out a 60W incandescent for a 100W LED equivalent in a shower. Made all the difference and it draws a lot less power and does not get hot. Win-win!
I imagine for security lights that are hard to reach LED's will be a one time install and will outlast the owner.

 

[NCL4701]

When LED screw in came out our local power company was selling them online for about half of retail. We swapped everything out before they changed the program. Longevity of the bulbs is nice.

 

[DustyRusty]

My wife's store was converted by the electrical company to LED's about 3 years ago, and the bill never went down. Learned later on that they replaced the ballasts with now ballasts, but they drew the same amount of current but did power the LED bulbs. The average monthly bill was about $1000, until last month. It took a jump to $1600, and that is because of the cost of generation. The more you try to save, the more it costs you in the end.

 

[Tughill Tom]

I changed over the garage from 8ftx12 fluorescents to LED with a ballast by-pass and went from a 9.3Amp draw to 2.6 Amp. The light is much better as the fluorescents were starting to go pink at about 10 years in use.
The worst part was storing the old blubs until Haz- recycle day up here.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I have some LED's. However, they are not as dimmable as incandescent bulbs. I've had some wacky behavior in the low voltage (MR16) recessed cans. Lutron Dimmers.
The lights that are the old style recessed (PAR38???) dim fine. Some others dim to a point and either go off suddenly, flash or just plain act weird. I tried them in the garage door opener. The ones I got prevented me from closing the door at a distance if the lights were on (as they would be as you pull out of the garage).
At least LED's are not temperature sensitive and will work in the cold. At some point, I wll relace the fluorescent tube lights in the garage with LED's when the current bulbs have to be replaced.
I swapped out a 60W incandescent for a 100W LED equivalent in a shower. Made all the difference and it draws a lot less power and does not get hot. Win-win!
I imagine for security lights that are hard to reach LED's will be a one time install and will outlast the owner.

Some of the older dimmers are not compatible with LED's, While some are tune able to the LED's in use. Pull off the face place and look for a adjustment on the side of the rocker switch.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The new House is all LED flat panel with the exception of the garage which is 9 4 panel fan lite fixtures.
The outside eve's have RGBW LEDS all the way around for "permanent" X mas lights and effect lighting.
The Niches and cabinets all have LED lighting inside and countertop lighting.
When everything is done I'm goin to pull an amp test to see where they are at.

In the old house, AKA the Double Wide paradise, AKA Trailer trash, Swapping from Incandescent and CFL's to LED's 7 years ago dropped $25 off of an $100 Electric bill.
Several LED's are on all the time and we've only lost a few, but when you change them for a new one, the new one is much brighter, so they do degrade over time.

FYI: For anyone that did LED lights years ago, the new LED's pull far less than the older model LED's and have virtually no heat gain, so you would be well off to swap them again!

 

[jabloomf1230]

Our house is all LED also. My advice is to buy them from reputable company. There are a lot of poor quality LED lights on the market and despite claims that they last forever, the cheap ones will burn out in a year or two. Also get a smart speaker device like Amazon Echo or Google Home and buy bulbs that work it. That will save time when turning off lights that visitors have left on.

 

[RCW]

When CFLs came out, I started switching over to them. When LEDs came out, I started switching over to them. I now have drawers full of incandescents and CFLs, but there's not a fixture or lamp in the house or shop that doesn't have LED.

I'm exactly the same.

Many years ago I counted bulbs in the house..I think it was 88.

When we had incandescents, I had to change a bulb or two a week.

When we went to CFL, I changed a bulb every week or two.

Almost all being LED now, I change a bulb two or three times a year or so.

 

[Magicman]

Welcome home NIW.

 

[William1]

Some of the older dimmers are not compatible with LED's, While some are tune able to the LED's in use. Pull off the face place and look for a adjustment on the side of the rocker switch.

These are Lutron Maestro digital dimmers and LEDs meant for dimming. I had a good electrician do 99% of the work in the house and even he said that LED's would not work as well as tungsten. What I found was the range of control simply is not there. If the light was on/off, LED cannot be beat. I imagine if the light and control were designed together, it would work if instead of a reduced voltage it was PWM.

 

[William1]

I'm exactly the same.

Many years ago I counted bulbs in the house..I think it was 88.

When we had incandescents, I had to change a bulb or two a week.

When we went to CFL, I changed a bulb every week or two.

Almost all being LED now, I change a bulb two or three times a year or so.

Even with still being 99% incandescent, I rarely change a bulb. One reason is most of the lights being on dimmers, few are run at full power. We also turn off lights if not in a room.
In our kitchen, built in 2009, the lights are on probably four hours a day. Only one bulb has had to be replaced.
In my office, I have a single bulb in the ceiling fan. Six months and it would go. Replaced the on/off switch with a dimmer and it has been many years now.
In the garage, the one opener with regular bulbs, I get about a year out of them.
I bought a large stock of incandesants when they were 'on the phase out'. I still have a lot left, they seem to be lasting longer. I never liked CFL

 

[fried1765]

I've been converting my home and garage to LED's for a couple of years now. I have a fairly sizable 2 level home that is 18yro and is just loaded with lighting. There is 41 65w ceiling spot lights alone between the 2 levels. I think with the the remaining lights there is over 100 in total.
Well, when the family is visiting it seems they don't realize the are OFF sides to the switches.
Since I've made the change we noticed the electric consumption has been reduced considerably on the bill and the AC does not run as much in the summer because of the reduced heat that comes with LED spot lights.
My garage is 3 bay two story also with most of the lighting on the 1st floor (21 sockets). There all the lighting comes from individual screw in bulbs. There I've used the Y adapters for 2 100w led's each which ony draws 15w each bulb. So i'm getting 200w of lighting for 30w actual draw.
How many others have done the conversion like I have ?

I have two storage buildings (barns)
The 36' x 48' Morton bldg. had 24 -4' fluorescent tubes, and now has 24 -4' LED tubes.
The 40' x 50' stick built bldg. had 24-8' fluorescent tubes and now has 24-8' LED tubes.
Another advantage is that the LED's do not care how cold it gets in Winter.
There is no heat in either building.