Back in January I shared some interesting facts about LED light bulbs and I took you shopping with me at The Home Depot as we replaced all of the fixtures on the first level of our home with LEDs. I’d hoped to wow you by reporting dramatic savings on my electric bill, but sadly our bill is actually slightly higher year over year. BUT I have some good theories on why this is the case which I’ll share in a moment.
The installation process was easy as can be — we just unscrewed all of our old CFL bulbs and screwed in the new LED light bulbs. Note that we chose not to discard our CFL bulbs since they’re all still in good working condition. Instead we boxed them up and put them in the crawl space in the basement so that we can take our new LED light bulbs with us when we move. However, if have CFL bulbs that you need to dispose of, I’d encourage you to read the information here on CFL cleanup and disposal.
What immediately struck me after replacing all of the bulbs was the difference in the quality of light. It’s not necessarily a good or bad difference — it’s just brighter and, well, different. I found it most noticeable in the bathroom where the light is forced out of the bulbs rather than being dispersed evenly from the entire bulb because of the way the bulbs are constructed. You can see in the image above that only the forward half of the bulb is giving off light. However, I quickly got used to this within a few days and now it’s not even noticeable to me.
So I mentioned that our electric bill is actually up slightly year over year when I had anticipated it going down based on my research. I have a few theories about why this is occurring:
- First, we already had CFL bulbs installed throughout the entire house courtesy of a great deal at Target a few years ago. Because our electric usage from lighting was already incredibly low, we’re not seeing a noticeable decrease from switching to LEDs. We’ll still see savings in the long run; however, they will come from the fact that we won’t have to replace the bulbs for many, many years to come. I’m also glad to not have to worry about the complications of cleaning up the mercury if a CFL bulb should break.
- Second, we also already have many electricity-saving measures installed in the house. Our kitchen light is on an automatic switch so it shuts off automatically after no movement has been sensed for five minutes. We also have a device that monitors our electric usage constantly so we can see how high our load is. And we tend to use our large appliances like our washer and dryer and dishwasher in the evening and early mornings outside of the peak load times which have a higher cost.
- Finally, as our children get older we’re naturally using more electricity as they start using more technology and such throughout the day, taking more frequent showers instead of baths, and increasing our laundry with sports involvement.
I found it interesting to note that my father’s electric bill was roughly the same as ours. We have houses of similar size; however, he has a two-person household with a regular work schedule outside of the home. In contrast, we have a seven-person household where there are nearly constantly members home since I work from home and my husband is still unemployed.
Overall, I’m impressed with the LED light bulbs and I think they definitely have an integral part in saving on our electricity. I just believe that our savings will take more time to become apparent than a household that was not already somewhat frugal with their electric usage.
Thanks for following along with me as I gave this new technology a try, and I’ve got one more $50 The Home Depot gift card to give away!
To enter: Just tell me — have you given LED light bulbs a try yet? Or after reading more about them, are they something you’ll consider when making your next light bulb replacement?
This giveaway will close at 3:00pm EST on 3/3/11.
The Home Depot works with bloggers such as myself to conduct product reviews. They do not tell bloggers what to say about their products or how to say it. THD fundamentally believes that people should be free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot often provides product – free of charge – to bloggers for review as they did for this post. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
Manu
I am very interested to give them a try after reading your long review.
juli guthrie
I do use LED light bulbs. They are defiantly brighter and more efficient.
carol
I had an energy audit last year and did put in LEDs in most places.I have noticed only a small difference in my bill
Sue
Yes, I have one that I currently use.
Jessie C.
We have not switched to LED yet, but this will be on our to do list.
Sharon
I have not used LED light bulbs yet. But I will do anything to save money on my electric bill.
Thanks,
Cyn D.
I would love to try them. i am in FL and am all about saving energy.
Becky Baird
I haven’t tried them yet. We are waiting for them to become less expensive, but we definitely want to try them out!
Mandy
did not know about led lightbulbs. Would be willing to try them next time I need to purchase bulbs. Thanks for the info.
camilla
Haven’t tryed them yet. But would like to.
Claygirlsings
We inherited a couple of LED bulbs in our new place and my reaction is mixed. I hated them in the overhead kitchen fixtures. They made the light feel weird. However, I love them as appliance lights. The ones in our stove vent hood are fantastic and since it’s a stainless steel hood, these don’t make the hood hot to the touch – bonus!
BobbiK
We haven’t tried them yet, but once we move into a new house we plan on getting some to try.
sheri grennille
we have not tried them; i’m not even really sure i knew they existed.
Idaho Jill
I have not tried them yet – we do have cfl’s though. If these were cheap enough, I would definitely try them out!
Steph S
We have tried LED bulbs, but haven’t been able to completely switch over to them due to cost restraints. I would love to eventually replace all of my bulbs with LED.
Anastasia
I have changed most of mine. My complex pays heating and cooling, I pay lights, etc. My bill has been lower this year, but I don’t know if that is the actual cause. It could be other factors.
Michele
I haven’t tried them yet. I’ve heard that they may improve in the next year or so, so I’ve been waiting and using up my CFLs. But I’d love to give them a try, especially in the few fixtures where we haven’t used CFLS because of appearance.
Elaine
I haven’t tried LED light bulbs yet b/c I don’t know which stores carry them until now. I’ll have to check them out at Home Depot. I’ve been looking for LED night lights too. I hear those bulbs last a lot longer than CFL.
Christina Burrell
We love LED bulbs!!
Linda
I used LED lights on our Christmas tree last year but have not tried them in the house yet!
Carin
I haven’t tried LED’s yet but did buy the LED christmas lights at 90% off this year so we will be trying them out this Christmas!
Charlene W
I have not tried LED but definitely plan to… we have had horrible luck with CFL bulbs and I am worried about what will happen when the good old fashioned bulbs are removed from the stores.
Belinda Wright
I haven’t tried them yet but I think I may just try them out. I’m not that crazy about the CFL’s though. I hope I win so I can try them out soon!
Sarah
We just moved into a new place thanks to a PCS (Army) move. They had all energy efficient bulbs when we moved in! It’s great! Plus, we didn’t have to get used to the different light, because we had it right from the start in this house! Thanks for the chance to win!
Rebecca
Have not tried them yet.
Pauline
I have not tried LED bulbs yet, but I will consider them in the future!
momof2
We have LED lights in our home and I love them. We have never had to replace one of them… yet anyways! We will be moving soon into a new home and will be replacing all of the light bulbs with LED lights there as well.
Rachel Shew
I didn’t know they made LED lights for use in all areas of the house. It’s def. something to consider, esp. since I hate the mercury in the CFL. So I’ll be looking into that now! Thanks.
Jodie
We have not tried them yet.
ruth james
can’t wait to switch over.was going to a “study” and now becoz of yours. I won’t have to