I asked you all last week what your favorite benefit of LED light bulbs is, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the longevity of them came in first. But the facts that they’re mercury-free, glass-free, don’t give off heat, and use far less electricity were all mentioned repeatedly as well. And check out those savings pictured above!
These were all benefits that I was also excited about, so I was really looking forward to shopping at The Home Depot to check out the selection and learn more from an expert. They provided me with some tips to review before we went shopping.
Shopping for LED light bulbs:
- Identify Your Fixture Type: With so many bulbs to choose from, it’s important to educate yourself about your fixture and lighting needs before you make a purchase. Light fixtures can dramatically alter the look of a room, so be aware of where shadows will fall and how that will affect the atmosphere. To ensure safety, and the maximum life of your bulb, review the information on the package to be sure you have selected the correct bulb shape for your light fixture.
- Choose Your Desired Brightness: Watts, a measurement of power, is a common way traditional light bulbs are identified (ex: 60-watt, 75-watt and 100-watt bulbs). Since CFL and LED bulbs use less energy than traditional bulbs, be sure to look at the measurement of light output, known as lumens, instead of watts to select the right bulb.
- Understanding Color Temperature and Intensity: When selecting an LED light, choose a color of light that suits the mood and activity taking place in your room.
With these tips in mind, we made a quick tour of our downstairs fixtures to assess our lighting needs and then headed out to The Home Depot. Upon our arrival we first had to grab one of the infamous Home Depot race car carts of course…
And then we were met by EJ, our local Home Depot Master Trade Specialist. He was extremely knowledgeable about the LED light bulbs and also shared a number of other tips for decreasing the energy consumption in our home. I never knew there was such a thing as a water heater timer! Definitely something we need to check out further.
I was impressed at the large selection of light bulbs carried by our local store. We have a few fixtures that call for some unusual sized bulbs, but The Home Depot has an even larger selection of LED light bulbs online.
EJ made finding the LED light bulbs we needed a snap, and we filled our cart and checked out in record time. The real challenge was prying the kiddos our of their hot rod to head home.
Next week I’ll share the installation process and hopefully whether we’ve been able to see any savings on our electric bill. But in the meantime, you can win a $50 gift card to The Home Depot!
To enter: Just leave a comment! Do you have any lighting fixtures that call for an unusual size light bulb or wattage? If so, were you able to find a suitable LED light bulb on HomeDepot.com?
This giveaway will close at noon EST on 1/21/11.
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.
hannah
I always use LED light bulbs!
Val
I would love to give LED bulbs a try, I could use the energy savings and the fact that they don’t get as hot as the halogen.
Katie
Slowly changing to LED. Have been able to find the bulbs for everything I have changed so far.
Amber
oh, we haven’t tried these yet. Interesting!
Samantha W
I would love, love, love to see all of my night lights in the house switched over to LED ones. I don’t think they make bulbs the same size as traditional night lights, but I wouldn’t mind buying some brand new ones with a $50 GC!
Viva Nguyen
We have started changing some of our lights to LED but cant afford to change all of them because it will be too expensive for me. Home Depot gift card will certainly help! :D
Thannon
I has dome tear shaped bulbs that I wanted to replace, but thought I couldn’t because of their unique shape, however, come to find out, I was able to use the LED bulbs! they still fit the socket, they just look a little different!
Jen R.
The LED lights are pricey, and Home Depot has all the sizes we need!
Michelle
A Christmas Night light- the standard night light bulb is too big for it. I had to switch to the LED bulb just to get one that fit in it. I said just take it to Home Depot and see what they can find. We found a bulb that fits.
Jane
A lot of my Christmas Decorations need these specialty bulbs. There is a LED bulb on Home Depot that would work great.
Ellen
I switched to LED bulbs in most of my fixtures about two years ago but haven’t explored the really unusual sizes. Thanks for encouraging me to get on that project.
Jennifer
I do have some weird ones and they do carry them!
Scott
My kitchen lights are set in and now are being replaced with LEDs. homedepot.com does sell the ones we use.
michelle
We are slowly switching our lite bulbs to more energy efficient ones. That gift card would help a lot with that process!!!
Sophie
I use the LEDs in my bedroom light fixtures. Home Depot.com does sell my kind.
Norb
I use LED’s in my kitchen lights. They seem brighter now. Homedepot.com does sell them.
Michelle
We have switched already to CFL bulbs and as our budget will allow we will switch to LED. We have all standard sizes in our house so finding them should be easy.
Robin S.
Thankfully we have no unusual sizes, just a lot of fixtures with multiple bulbs! Have been thinking about making the switch, but it will have to be a slow process due to the higher prices!
Amy
We only use LED except for in our night lights. I’ll have to check home depot for these.
Amber
We do not have any that need any type of special bulb. But we just moved and switched all of the bulbs over to LEDs. I love that is one less thing i will have to worry about replacing over and over again in the future!
lisa
We are changing out slowly… haven’t had any problems finding bulbs yet.
Mary
“Out with old, in with the new.” I’ll keep my fingers crossed :)
Nay
No odd bulbs here, but as I need to replace a bulb, we are using LEDs. I like that they are mercury-free.
Anita A.
I would love to change all my light bulbs to LED. Right now i have CFL’s, which is definitely an improvement over standard incandescent. It looks like Home Depot has a great selection. :o)
kelsey
Haven’t had any problems yet!
Selene
I don’t have any odd lights and I haven’t yet shopped for LED’s.
I currently use CFL’s everywhere I can.
sara
We are changing over to LED’s as we need to replace bulbs. No odd sized bulbs here.
jen
I’ve been slowly changing our bulbs once they burn out but some of the LED’s aren’t and good looking so some of our lights are the old kinds yet. Thanks for the idea to look at homedepot’s website for odd types of bulbs!
Kim
We just changed out flood lights to LED.
tiara
Our kitchen lights are pretty unsual but we have been able to find bulbs that fit!