CFL

The Feit Electric G25 LED globe from Costco

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , ,

I spied a 3-pack of LED globe bulbs at Costco last week, priced at $20. This is a ridiculously good price on LED globe bulbs–typically I see them at $15 apiece at the home improvement stores. After verifying that, I picked up a package to try out on my next Costco run. While they aren’t the best LED bulbs I’ve seen, they’re easily the best deal I’ve seen on LED globes, and I’ll be buying more of them. Read more

LED bulb garage door opener interference

Dave Farquhar DIY , , , ,
LED bulb garage door opener interference

While installing a new garage door opener, I found a curious statement in the manual: Don’t use LED bulbs. Why can’t you use LED bulbs in a garage door opener? Six words: LED bulb garage door opener interference. Read more

Another month, another go-to LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , , , , , ,

LED lighting seems to change constantly. I read about Cree’s LED bulbs a good 12-18 months ago and they sounded too good to be true. In a way, they were, because you couldn’t buy them anywhere. The wait is finally over–they’re finally available, though only at Home Depot. I tried out their 800-lumen (60W equivalent), 2700K, 9.5W bulb, which currently costs about $13. It’s a good bulb that lives up to the hype.

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These study results on energy savings aren’t surprising

Dave Farquhar Saving money , ,

This Ars Technica article talks about the politicization of energy saving products. Pitch energy efficiency as a cost savings, and liberals and conservatives alike are willing to buy. Pitch it as environmental-saving, and moderates get turned off while conservatives get even more so.

The lesson to marketers: Sell energy-efficient products as technology that promotes energy independence and cost savings. Everyone likes technology, everyone likes energy independence, and everyone likes cost savings.

And the savings is significant. Although I don’t have LED lights and an occupancy switch in every room yet, that’s my eventual goal. Even as electric rates go up, my electric bills tend to hold steady or barely go up, mostly because none of my rooms consume more than 60 watts of electricity to light them, and the highest-traffic rooms turn the lights off automatically after everyone leaves. My total usage goes down some years.

And for what it’s worth, I always preferred LED lights with occupancy switches. The LEDs don’t seem to care how often you switch them off and on; but CFL bulbs do. When using an occupancy switch with CFL bulbs, be sure to put them on their very longest time setting. Anymore, I always go with LED bulbs.

The 4W Lights of America Power LED from Costco: Finally a good LED lamp for bathrooms

Dave Farquhar Saving money ,

Costco sells a 4W LED lamp by Lights of America. They briefly sold LEDs a few years ago from that company that weren’t highly regarded, and I think a lot of people are scared of the brand because of that experience. Not to worry, though. These are much better.

They’re billed as 25W replacements, and they’re globe-shaped. I find they’re a good replacement for 25W globes in bathroom fixtures.

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The new Philips 420240 10.5-watt 800-lumen LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , ,

I picked up a couple of the new Philips 10.5-watt 800-lumen LED bulbs this weekend. All around, they’re the best sub-$20 LED bulb I’ve seen yet.

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LED bulbs and breakability

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , ,

A longtime friend posted something on Facebook about CFL bulbs–namely, that in addition to containing mercury, that they also emit ultraviolet light. I thought everyone knew that fluorescent lights emit more UV than other types of lights and that wasn’t news, but maybe not.

I pointed out that LED bulbs don’t emit any UV light at all, and the proof is that bugs aren’t attracted to LED lights. They’ll come to an incandescent or a fluorescent light though.

He asked if LED lights pose any hazards if they break. I now have an answer. Read more

The lightbulb reinvented

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

Timothy Hunt asked me (via Twitter) if I’ve seen the lightbulb reinvented, an LED bulb that screws into a standard socket but has wi-fi capability so you can tune its light temperature and otherwise control it with a smartphone.

I hadn’t. But I found it interesting, and appreciate the mention. Read more

How to calculate savings from reduced cooling costs when considering energy-saving improvements

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , ,

I learned something incredibly useful this week: For every 3 watts of energy consumption you save, you save an additional watt of power in cooling costs during the cooling season.

I bought my first CFL bulb a little over 9 years ago. I knew this was helping my AC costs too, but now I know how much.
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A preliminary review of the Inland warm white A19 LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , , ,

Micro Center had the Inland warm white A19 LED bulbs on sale this week and had a hard time keeping them in stock. I snagged an 800 lumen (60W equivalent), non-dimmable bulb, which uses 10 watts, for $13. It’s not the state of the art in 10W LED bulbs, but the price is right and it has a 3-year warranty. Read more