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.
Tracy T
We have had all CFL bulbs for a few years now and we did notice a huge drop in our electric usage once we switched. I’ve been eyeing LED bulbs for a while and would love to make a wholesale change to them but it never seems to fit into our weekly budget.
I did get one 9W LED bulb that is supposed to be equivalent to a 40W incandescent bulb, but I felt that the LED was definitely brighter than an old 40W. Not *too* bright, per se, but I would suggest to anyone in the market for an LED that they might want to get the bulb with slightly less wattage than they think they need. :)
Thanks for offering this giveaway!
Candi L
I use the LED bulbs! ANd I really like them. I even have a strip of them on the ceiling of my Explorer. That interior light just wasn’t bright enough to dig around in my purse when it’s dark out lol
jill
I haven’t tried them yet, I’ve been waiting for a great deal. We have a mix of CFL’s and regular bulbs throughout the house.
Nancy Fortin
Yes, we’re switching over little by little. I wait for sales on the new product.
beth
I haven’t tried them yet but was interested to read your review!
Mary Ann
We haven’t tried them yet. We do have a few CFLS, but I am so worried about the mercury issue.
Aspenskidude
I enjoyed reading your article but I’m curious if the new LED bulbs have the same or similar downside as CFL’s – that they can be a trigger for migraines. If I knew that, it would affect my decision to try them or not.
Jennifer
Haven’t tried them in the house yet but we do have an LED flashlight. They are really bright.
Alina
We have not tried them yet.
Liz M.
I haven’t tried them yet, but I’m planning to based on what I’ve been reading!
BrandyU
We have switched out some of our bulbs. I find it interesting that those bulbs are the first ones to go out though, especially since the CFL bulbs have been in for years.
Rebecca K.
We have replaced our bathroom and kitchen lights with the new LED lights. I believe our fan/ceiling lights are also LED. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in our electric bill, but our home is only 4 1/2 years old. I do like the lighting in these rooms much better now that I have gotten used to it. Thanks for the giveaway!
Karen
We love LED lights. Thanks for the giveaway!
kk
Yes, we use LED’s.
Miranda
Yes, we use a few LED but would love to make the whole household switchover like you have done. Our electric bill is currently outrageous.
marie
I haven’t tried the LED bulbs but would love to!
Simone
I have not tried LED lightbulbs yet but i am considering it now.
Quisicosa
We have not tried them yet but I’ve thought it might be time to try switching some of the rooms over to see what we think.
JOE T
I HAVE SWITCH TO LED SOME YEARS AGO. I LIVE IN A SENIOR TOWNHOME COMMUNITY AND I HAVE CONVINCED ABOUT 90% OF MY NEIGHBORS TO USE SOME OR ALL LED LIGHTS.I KNOW FOR A FACT, MOST HAVE SWITCH TO LED ON THERE OUTSIDE LIGHTING.
Amy
We haven’t tried them yet, but would really like to!
Ursula
My husband bought LED string lights. I didn’t care for the white light.
Robin
We do have a few of the LED. I don’t like the idea of having to wait for the bulb to warm up before it become fully – brighten. I heard that the CFL bulb were not going to be made after 2012. Is this true?
Megan
We have CFL’s all through our house, but my husband is beginning to incorporate LED’s mostly because they will last us so long. Great post and giveaway! Crossing my fingers :-)
Kristen
I haven’t tried LED lights yet. Still making the transition to CFL.
Debra
We switched our
outdoor lighting to LED bulbs. When the lights switch on, the up-lighting gives our home a distinct modern look and we save $$. It’s great!
Carole Spring
We have not yet tried the LED bulbs but have talked about doing so the next time one of our CFL bulbs burns out.
blondie_31971 (at) yahoo (dot) com
Joy
I haven’t tried LED lights yet, except for some in Christmas decorations this year, but I do plan to switch as bulbs burn out…or before if I hit a good sale! Thanks for the info!
Shannon
We changed some of our Christmas lights to LED lights but have not changed any in our home yet.
Jo
I have not tried the LED lights yet but I would like to if I had a job.
Tiffany
We have LED lights, but sadly, I have not had a positive experience with them. I replaced two bulbs in my bathroom about 1 year ago, since then, both have died. I’m not sure why I’m paying so much for LED bulbs that are supposed to last a long time, yet they lasted only a little over a year. Very disappointing.