LED Lighting

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Old Grafton
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LED Lighting

Post by Old Grafton »

Just spent 1/2 of Saturday, 1/2 of Sunday and 8 hrs today switching out every fluorescent light in home and shop to LED (except for a 2' twin over the kitchen sink, pending). Replaced 30-4' and 8-8' fluors with a total of 46-4' twin tube units; oh, my aching back, neck n shoulders. But...WOW!! what a difference in brightnessI! As old as I am I didn't know that fluors dim significantly before they die, and LED's evidently don't nearly as significantly. Screw Al Gore, I did this for ME and the Missus: not only is the power draw way less it means neither of us has to climb ladders and change bulbs like we have done so often in the past. Plus, the projected savings are really significant. And we can SEE all the details! (including where we need to sweep more often... :shock: )
I'm not old--It's too early to be this late.
Old Grafton
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by Old Grafton »

And even better, when I passed the word to a few buds the old fixtures disappeared except for 3 8' units! the shop is usually lit up 12 hrs 6-7 days a week but most of my pals dont run lighting nearly as much so for them th fluors are still cost-efficient when the base price is ....free.... :D
I'm not old--It's too early to be this late.
Old Grafton
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by Old Grafton »

And the cartons of free brand-new tubes didn't hurt, either
I'm not old--It's too early to be this late.
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HTRN
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by HTRN »

I thought led and fluorescent lighting had comparable efficiency?
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MarkD
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by MarkD »

Last year I replaced the incandescent bulbs in the can lights in the kitchen with LED inserts, they look nicer, they're MUCH cooler, and I no longer have to drag out the step stool once every couple weeks to replace a (expletive deleted) bulb. I figure just in the cost of bulbs I'm about at the break-even point now, not counting savings on electricity (six bulbs, formerly 65-75 watts each depending on what I could get, now 13 watts each). I used to go thru a couple or three cases of 12 bulbs a year.

And those suckers are BRIGHT, they're 100 watt equivalent.
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Weetabix
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by Weetabix »

HTRN wrote:I thought led and fluorescent lighting had comparable efficiency?
I don't believe that's true, if you're counting total efficiency in terms of life cycle cost, convenience, comfort, and joy.

I don't know that I've replaced all of mine, but based on labeling, the LED's are about half the wattage with more (visible at any rate) lumens than a fluorescent.

They're supposed to run about 20,000 hours before they run out. I haven't had to replace one yet. I started putting them in 3 years (?) ago.

They were more expensive when I started putting them in, but the price has steadily gone down.

Let's fake up some factors only:

2 (wattage savings) x 1.33 (lumen increase) x 10 (lifetime increase estimated) x 1/4 (fluorescent are cheaper) = 6.65x better.

I've neglected several things that I'm not sure how to factor in:
- heating and cooling since I'm in a pretty balanced climate. I pay a bit more for heating and a bit less for cooling for the waste heat from higher wattage use, but I figure it balances out. I doubt that it would be more than 2%, though.
- convenience of not physically changing the bulbs
- lack of being pissed off that bulbs were burning out so frequently
- general comfort of better light

On balance, I love them. The only thing I don't like is the higher initial cost, but that pays out with the utility savings over the life of the bulb, and in the mean time, I have more light and less trouble. It's a win.
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MarkD
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by MarkD »

lack of being pissed off that bulbs were burning out so frequently
Oh yeah, my wife stopped asking what the problem was when I'd go into the kitchen first thing in the morning, turn on the lights, and say "Shit!"

Also, the reflector floods I had were getting hard to find (thank you Greenies) and each time I bought a case they seemed to burn out faster. Oh, and each case seemed to have a dead bulb in it, so all too often the sequence was:

1) Throw light switch, pop-snap-SHIT, turn switch back off
2) Go into basement for new bulb
3) Get out step stool.
4) Climb step stool, remove old bulb, install new bulb
5) Climb down, throw switch, fucker still doesn't work
6) Repeat from step 2
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Weetabix
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by Weetabix »

Yep. I put (7) 11-watt LED reflector floods in recessed cans in my kitchen. For 77 watts, I have tons of light... for only 77 watts! I think I put them in about 3 years ago, and I have yet to replace one. With 9'-9" ceilings, I'm loving it.
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JAG2955
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by JAG2955 »

There's 8 recessed lights in our kitchen/great room. When we moved in, they were all incandescent. I switched to LEDs due to the lack of heat they put out. Before, even if you were blind, you knew if the lights in there were on.

But screw CFLs. All they do is suck and pollute.
Rich Jordan
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Re: LED Lighting

Post by Rich Jordan »

JAG2955 wrote:There's 8 recessed lights in our kitchen/great room. When we moved in, they were all incandescent. I switched to LEDs due to the lack of heat they put out. Before, even if you were blind, you knew if the lights in there were on.

But screw CFLs. All they do is suck and pollute.
And smoke, catch fire, short out, and put out crappy light quality. And not last nearly as long as the greenies claimed.

Did you put in LED replacement bulbs in the recessed lights? Or actually retrofit the lights with LED cans? If the latter consider buying a few spares while you can, else when/if one fails you may not be able to find a matching unit/color temp/etc.
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