The real benefit comes from not having to break out the ladder every time your ceiling light goes out.
60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
31–40 of 189 posts
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#32The real benefit comes from not having to break out the ladder every time your ceiling light goes out.
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#33I'd be pretty happy to get away from compact fluorescencts. They're filled with mercury gas (I think). It's bad news if you break one and inhale it. And I'm not sure what happens to the mercury when you dispose of them either. Edit: For you downvoters out there, it is considered a serious risk. Here's another article about the problems: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7431198
It's no big deal.
www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/news/4217864
If you make a habit of breaking them open near your face and inhaling the gas, you probably have bigger problems. I've read that the actual average mercury exposure from a broken CFL is less than 10% of the mercury exposure from a serving of tuna.
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#34This is excellent. However, please do not say "this is enough for me" after you replace all your incandescent light bulbs with these. Household energy consumption is a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket compared to industrical energy consumption and shipping.
This is actually a common misconception: in the US (as in most OECD countries), households consume slightly more energy than the industry.
As a case in point, in 2009, industry consumed 256 million tons of oil equivalent, versus 262 mtoe for the residential sector (ie households).
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#35So, what LED bulb is available to replace 100W incandescent?
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
OTOH, my entire house is fluorescent and LED. My monthly electricity bill is $65. For a house! I never have to replace burnt out bulbs. At $13 I'd guess the LED is actually about at break-even over the life of the bulb vs incandescent unless you're buying incandescent in the big packs of 30 bulbs for $10. The only gas in my house is my central heating, and my old water heater. I plan to replace that with point-of-use…
Lighting is a small fraction of your overall electricity usage. HVAC alone uses many times as much. While using efficient lighting is a good idea far too many people get hung up on it when there are better places to conserve.
It depends on how many people are in your family and how frequently they forget to turn off the lights. Plus, having 400W of incandescent bulbs on is 400 more watts that the A/C system has to cool.
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#37This is excellent. However, please do not say "this is enough for me" after you replace all your incandescent light bulbs with these. Household energy consumption is a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket compared to industrical energy consumption and shipping.
I'm not quite sure what you're saying... that the LED bulbs have a much higher energy and environmental "cost" in manufacturing, compared to a standard incandescent? That's quite likely true and has to be considered in the big picture (similar issues with electric vehicles, that their proponents like to ignore). For me the answer is simple: $13 is way too much to pay for a light bulb, I don't care how efficient it is…
It was not very long ago that CF bulbs were $13 each. And even they were still more cost efficient to buy than incandescent bulbs.
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#38So, what LED bulb is available to replace 100W incandescent?
It already came out last year: http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/128669-philips-new-10...
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
> $13 is way too much to pay for a light bulb, I don't care how efficient it is. You probably should care. It only takes 6 hours per day of usage for your 60W incandecent to suck up $13 of electricity in a year. And you'll have had to change it at least once. The LEDs will last for over a decade. Yes, if you're only renting a house/apartment for a year then you may not recoup your costs (although it will be close). S…
Make sure to state what price you're assuming for electricity when making these claims. The cost of electricity in the US can vary by a factor of 3-4 depending on where you live. I'm sure it's worthwhile for any heavily-used light even in very cheap areas, but the specific breakeven time will vary quite a bit.
You also have to make an assumption about the typical weather. The waste heat offsets heating costs in cold climates, but in hot climates, you must also burn additional electricity to pump the waste heat outside. My estimate is that a 50W bulb efficiency improvement results in a saving between 30W-70W depending on the climate.
If you live in Iceland, the payback is probably never. If you live in Singapore, you will recoup the cost in months.
I personally use LEDs everwhere except my bathroom during winter, where I use inefficient globe bulbs because it warms the bathroom.
Re: 60W equivalent LED bulb uses 9.5W and costs $13
#40I'd be pretty happy to get away from compact fluorescencts. They're filled with mercury gas (I think). It's bad news if you break one and inhale it. And I'm not sure what happens to the mercury when you dispose of them either. Edit: For you downvoters out there, it is considered a serious risk. Here's another article about the problems: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7431198
It's no big deal. www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/news/4217864 If you make a habit of breaking them open near your face and inhaling the gas, you probably have bigger problems. I've read that the actual average mercury exposure from a broken CFL is less than 10% of the mercury exposure from a serving of tuna.
Yeah they say that, but then in that same article look at the advice for cleaning up a broken CFL. If it's no big deal, why do I need to open the windows, wear gloves, etc?
What is the proper way to handle a broken CFL? Open the windows and let the room air out for 15 to 30 minutes, then remove as much material as possible without a vacuum cleaner. Using disposable gloves, scoop the glass onto a piece of cardboard and wipe the area with a wet paper towel. For smaller pieces of glass and powder, use duct tape to pull up the fragments and wash your hands after cleaning up the debris.