Is your home free of incandescent bulbs?

[bascule]

This is a tall order. Sadly, I cannot say yes to this question, but I'm close!

 

I'd estimate my home lighting is on the order of 95% compact fluorescent. There are still 4 incandescent bulbs in my house.

 

Two are in my living room in my touch lamps. Sadly, this retro '70s technology includes a built-in rheostat which is incompatible with compact fluorescents. Given the choice between chucking my touch lamps and retaining incandescent bulbs, I chose the latter. But don't worry... these lamps spend 95% of their time off, so no worries.

 

I also have fixtures which are too small for compact fluorescent bulbs. Perhaps I will look into having these replaced in the future. But for now, they will continue to retain heat spewing energy guzzling century old technology.

 

Given that moving away from incandescent bulbs to newer technology is both a great way to cut down on your energy bill and also help combat global warming, are you looking at cutting down the number of incandescent bulbs in your home?

 

Do you have concerns with technology like compact fluorescent? I remember early versions producing inferior quality light. The newer bulbs do not have this problem. I'm quite happy with the light quality produced by compact fluorescents, and save for a sporadic and slight delay between when you flip the lightswitch and when the bulbs come on, I do not miss incandescent bulbs whatsoever.

[insane_alien]

i'm getting snazzy LED lights for my room. still 5 incandescent bulbs in the house though. three on a dimmer switch in the living room and 2 in the garage. and technically theres a sixth in what remains of the loft but its broken and nobody can be bothered to replace it.

[Dak]

yeah, we're just replacing the incandescent bulbs with flurescent ones as they blow. we've still got one in the back room that hasn't blown, and three that we're choosing to leave as incandescents: one in each toilet, and one in the cupboard under the stairs, mainly due to the fact that (afaict) turning fleurescent bulbs on and off for very short times kills them quicker than incandescents.

[MolotovCocktail]

I don't have a single incandescent light bulb in my house. We got rid of those several years ago. I have compact fluorescents in my house, and some LED's. I think the newer bulbs that are out there use up less energy in their total lifespan than the incadescent ones and can last up to 10 times longer. I don't remember the last time I had to replace one of the bulbs (I think maybe back in December), so I guess thats a good thing.

[Pangloss]

I still have a couple. I'll replace them with CFs when they fail.

 

I've never quite understood why some incandescents die almost immediately while others seem to last forever. Drives me crazy. That was a big reason behind wanting to switch to CF.

[KLB]

Most of our lights have been switched over to CFLs. This along with some other tactics (e.g. putting electronic devices on power cord electrical switches) has help to cut our electric usage by 20%.

 

The only lights in our house that are not CFL are:

1) our entry hall light, which gets run for maybe 10 min a day at most;

2) bathroom vanity lights, which again get run for maybe 15 min a day at most;

3) two 60watt bedroom sconces which are P-type bulbs and are on touch sensitive dimmers, gets used maybe one hour a day on average (I can't find 60 watt equivalent P-type bulbs let alone ones that can work on dimmers);

4) seven 20 watt halogen display case lights for my rock collection (light color and intensity is critical), etc., which get run maybe an hour or so every couple of months; and

5) our refrigerator (like that matters )

 

I'd guess that about 80% to 90% of our total lighting usage is now on CFLs. I absolutely love the energy savings. It is so nice to keep an extra $20 per month in my wallet. I expect we will have a complete payback on the CFLs we purchased within four months of their purchase on average.

 

I'll agree with Pangloss about the longevity of CFLs, I love the fact that I won't be replacing bulbs in our most used lamp every six months. Heck simple replacement costs of incandescent bulbs vs. CFLs make them a good buy even if one doesn't consider the electrical savings.

[Royston]

The only incandescant bulbs we have are in the two garages behind our garden (one of which we never use...has a mates car in it, which he's been meaning to service for the last 6 months) and the excuse for the other...well there isn't one, this thread has reminded me we need to get one for our other garage

[Norman Albers]

Not such a tall order. Over ten thousand hours, the cost of one flourescent equals the six to ten incandescent bulbs, and the power cost is 30% or so. It is a little money up front, but a no-brainer. I called the county Planning Office to ask about restaurants burning many kilowatts in their ceiling lighting, recessed canisters often. I figured flourescents might be too hazardous here. To my surprise, they answered that there is no reason not to substitute. My, my, such a savings and people have not yet done it! Here is a good place to put our political energy, locally. Write the newspaper and talk with managers.

[Royston]

My, my, such a savings and people have not yet done it!

 

IIRC, they're thinking of banning the use of incandescant lights in some countries, but I'll have to double check that.

[JohnF]

We have 3 incandescent lamps; they are all 15w for the low light output. I have looked but I don't think you can get a 15w equivalent as a CF and if you could it just wouldn't be worth the cost.

[Norman Albers]

My kitchen has four 15 watters, one in the hood over the stove which is the most-used, making bright an otherwise dark center. Then a ceiling fixture I took out the old stuff because it's nice brass, and just mounted two simple screw sockets to hold to compacts. Then, over the sink I run one in a marvelous older deco-style lighthouse Frennel glass I got at a flea market.

[bascule]

For those of you with LED lighting, where are you purchasing them?

 

I would love to get my hands on some 1000 lumen LEDs, particularly to replace the bulbs in my touch lamps and the fixtures CF bulbs don't fit inside.

[insane_alien]

B&Q my dad works there so i can get a discount

[Norman Albers]

What's the LED lamp efficiency, and how do they supply the low DC?