Has your electric bill gone down if you have a lot of LED bulbs?

[teejk]

The other consideration is how much of your bill is actually for electricity. Around here it is only about 30%. The other 70% is for taxes, fees, service charges, etc. that are not related to how much electricity is used.

Around here it's called "fixed charge" and we are seeing a shift to that as the "usage charge" is declining due more efficient appliances, etc. The grid still has to be maintained whether people use the juice or not.

 

[orezok]

Almost all of my lights are on dimmers, (even the outdoor ones), and kept dimmed most of the time. Some LED's can't be dimmed. And, most LED bulbs, do not warm in color, like an incandescent does, as they dim. Which is something that I prefer. I would rather not give up, to save a couple of bucks a month.

If you are using the older style rheostat dimmers in lieu of the newer solid state, you are not saving electricity. The rheostat type justs converts the "unused" electricity to heat at the switch.

The newer Triac switch clips either the leading or following part of the sine wave. LED's work best with following sine wave switches.

 

[ray66v]

If you are using the older style rheostat dimmers in lieu of the newer solid state, you are not saving electricity. The rheostat type justs converts the "unused" electricity to heat at the switch.

The newer Triac switch clips either the leading or following part of the sine wave. LED's work best with following sine wave switches.

I have no rheostat style dimmers.

I don't dim to save energy.

My home was originally built by an electrician, for himself. It has a substantial amount of built in lighting. I use dimmers to create a warm, and inviting atmosphere. It's nice, to be able to establish mood with lighting, when entertaining. Though, it's something I rarely do.

Secondarily, I dim to increase bulb life. I especially appreciate this in my outdoor fixtures, and hard to reach ones, like the chandelier in my foyer, which requires scaffolding to service.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Rheostats were probably last used in the 50s. They are large and made a lot of heat. They are just a variable resistor.

I heat house and water electrically. I would probably never see a difference in usage with different bulbs. I have a couple of Mogel base 500 watt Edison bulbs in my shop. I rarely use them though.

 

[teejk]

Now here's a question...has anybody seen any LED conversion kits from the halogen work lights that run HOT and while the bulb maker says are 1,500 hours are really only good for about 25? I can post a picture if you want but many of us know what I'm talking about...those yellow housings sold in all the big box stores.

 

[Industrial Toys]

In the grand scheme of things, how many hours do you use a work light?

 

[teejk]

In the grand scheme of things, how many hours do you use a work light?

Actually more than one would think if one is working on construction or equipment. They come with a stand and as such are certainly handier than trouble lights.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

When I bought my house I called the power company and had the lady rattle off the last two years of usage, there was a single old man that lived in the house before me. I was told the dude was so cheap he would flip the breaker off to the hot water tank when he didn't use it thinking it would save him on electric.

When I moved in, I swapped all the incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, in the house, garage, barn and even in appliances. The can lights got LED due to the long neck flood light, couldn't find a CFL in that style.

I replaced the heating elements in the hot water tank to the high efficient ones, installed a 8000 series Honeywell Tstat and set it to a schedule dropping 2 degrees at times when people aren't home. I closed off all basement registers and dampened back the registers in rooms that don't get used, outside of that just live normally.

With all that I'm around $15-$25 a month cheaper in electric than the old man that lived here before me did. My bill in the summer is $75-$125 usually and I'm the winter $150-$220. House is 74 in the summer and 68 in the winter.

LED are a tad more efficient than compact fluorescents but they are much more expensive, I was paying I believe .88 no more than a few bucks for a pack of 6 with the AEP (electric company) discount at the local Walmart, it was an incentive for people to change over to them. Total I think I was over 150 bulbs. I have been in my house since october of 14 and have had to change out 3 bulbs.

Besides the lower energy consumption, like others have said, LEDs don't get hot, another energy value to throw in the mix.

 

[WM75Guy]

When we built we used fluorescents for high use and can lights with BR40 incandescent bulbs for accent lights. I am switching out our BR40 bulbs to LED as they go out. So far not many have been changed so I have not noticed a difference.

Our electric coop switched over to smart meters. I can look at usage each hour of the day. We just installed 4 1000W floods for the arena. While looking at the usage to see how much they were using I noticed late at night for one hour we use 7-8 KW, more than the 5-6 KW the arena lights use. I finally figured out that is it the dryer that was bought last year that I start before going to bed. I am going to look at the major appliances for upgrades to energy efficient ones as well.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I can't wait till I can afford new windows lol, mine are a bit drafty and are aluminum framed so they sweat like a SOB in the winter. I can feel the cold air penetrating them in the winter also, once I get the windows and doors replaced, I should be in good shape.

AEP offers a energy efficiency audit for $50, I'm not on AEP and the company I have don't offer this, but they send a few guys in that will preform a energy test on your house to show you where your losing the most energy at, how tight your house is ext.

I would sign up for one if I can and pick those guys brains about making the homestead more energy efficient.

They also offer a discount if you let them put a disconnect on the A/C and hot water tank, so during peak hours they shut both off for a few hours so they can keep up with the power demand.

I would never add one but it's something they offer for a 10-15% discount on bills.

Totally off topic lol.