A lightbulb moment

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A lightbulb moment

Tämä viestiketju on "uinuva" —viimeisin viesti on vanhempi kuin 90 päivää. Ryhmä "virkoaa", kun lähetät vastauksen.

12wonderY
helmikuu 18, 2014, 7:27 am

Going lightbulb shopping takes a lot more thought than it used to.

Lowe's has two huge aisles full of options. It's a good place now to start conversations. I commiserated with one couple about the overload of choices and the still not uniform data disclosure from one bulb to the next. I was able to extol one LED bulb that gives good illumination. An old guy wandered past with his wife muttering about "Obama bulbs" and I knew I wasn't going to engage him. I hadn't thought of it being a political issue. But then, I avoid FOX News.

Another shopper told me she has seen her electric bill at her business drop by $100/month since switching to LEDs, and that savings justifies the purchase of the longer lasting, but pricier bulbs.

At $10 or more a pop, I'm buying cautiously and trying to keep records of when a bulb is put in service so as to test longevity claims.
I'm not happy to have to buy such highly engineered and complex machines for lighting, but it's probably a mindset adjustment. I did notice that there is a big quality improvement in the base of the bulbs, since they're not so disposable as the incandescents.

Has anyone tried the new halogens yet?

2amysisson
helmikuu 18, 2014, 9:12 am

Definitely going to keep an eye on this thread for more info as it appears. I think I'll start trying to keep track too. (My husband will laugh, as I keep spreadsheets on the most random things. Currently I'm tracking how many pounds of food waste goes into my backyard composter.)

3WildMaggie
helmikuu 18, 2014, 2:16 pm

Don't know about the new halogens but I like the old halogens we've had about 20 years. We may have had to change one once. I forget exactly.

42wonderY
helmikuu 18, 2014, 2:44 pm

Are yours for specialized uses, or for general illumination?

5WildMaggie
helmikuu 18, 2014, 4:13 pm

General illumination. Overhead main light fixtures in living room and family room. They are supplemented by task lighting (i.e., reading lights next to seating).

6rastaphrog
maaliskuu 2, 2014, 10:26 am

I have a large number of both CFLs and incandescent that I bought when I was still living in my house. Considering how little I actually turn lights on in the apartment, I may not have to buy any more for years.

7Sandydog1
heinäkuu 10, 2014, 9:47 pm

'Change your Leaders, not your light bulbs"

- Thomas Friedman

...And, didn't he say something about a single city in China scarfs up all the energy savings from all the USA's conversions to efficient light bulbs?

8MaureenRoy
marraskuu 12, 2014, 8:26 pm

In our solar-powered home, we installed 2 new LED lights (one over the kitchen sink, and one over the dining table) that are so good it's sensational. They were expensive to buy, even at Costco, but they will last decades and best of all, they put no detectable strain on our somewhat underpowered solar system.

92wonderY
marraskuu 13, 2014, 6:28 am

Tell more. I've noticed that I will have to change the direction of lighting, with fixtures designed to point to the area wanting illuminated, rather than being considered 'general lighting.'

10MaureenRoy
marraskuu 13, 2014, 3:19 pm

Our LED lightbulbs are manufactured by Feit, sold at Costco for somewhere between $6.00 and $18.00 each ... sometimes there's a Costco special price or coupon, etc.

Consumer Reports did a definitive survey on LED lightbulbs and related energy issues in their October 2013 issue. If you don't subscribe, your local public library probably does. Here is the intro to that article. For the full evaluation, readers will have to pay the big bucks or read a library copy: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/09/leds-the-lightbulbs-that-last-an...

11AsYouKnow_Bob
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 14, 2014, 8:01 pm

>1 2wonderY: ...An old guy wandered past with his wife muttering about "Obama bulbs" and I knew I wasn't going to engage him. I hadn't thought of it being a political issue. But then, I avoid FOX News.

Ha.
The "Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007" to phase out incandescents was passed by a Democratic Congress but
...President Bush, a Republican, signed it into law on December 19, 2007, in response to his "Twenty in Ten" challenge to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years.

The stated purpose of the act is “to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.”. (Wikipedia)


Nothing at all to do with Obama*: either the old guy was imaging things, or his news sources were lying to him.

Yeah, earlier this century I went around the house and switched to compact fluorescents - and now I'm still waiting for many of them to die so that I can upgrade again, this time to LEDs....

* Edited to add: Come to think of it, Obama was in the Senate when this was passed; so (presuming he voted with the majority...) he did have something to do with it. But, still....

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