Conserving Energy with LED lights?
 

We've been trying to eliminate electrically operated appliances and reduce our energy consumption for many years.
But now that we are surrounded by Amish neighbors, I am inspired to reduce our electrical dependence even further.

I'm considering installing LED nightlights on all the room switches, so as you move through the house at night, you turn on only enough light to safely navigate. If you want to stay in the room and need more light, you can turn on brighter task lighting as needed.

I especially like the fact that many of these lights are motion sensing and will turn off automatically. We have a couple of fixtures that, if forgotten, might burn for days before someone notices the light was left on. (example, the basement)

I'm trying to calculate ahead of time how much this might save, before I go out a purchase the nightlights. (I know they're cheap, but I still don't want to buy them if this won't work.)
Do you use these and what's your favorite brand? Anyone using the directional ones?
Has anyone found LED's that don't cast that gory blue/green light?
Are there any that are bright enough to use as the sole source of light in the closets?

LEDs are expensive for the amount of light that they put out, but if you need the superdirectional lighting that they produce, and can afford them, they will work okay. They are improving the output and the color of them--some of the better looking light from LEDs is the kind with multiple LEDs of different colors, selected so the mixed light from the fixture is a more pleasant shade, usually due to a bit of red and yellow. We have a couple of the white LEDs for 120 AC fixtures, but they really light only a small concentrated area, but they do okay for a night light kind of usage. Still quite expensive for the amount of light, compared to compact flourescents.

You have nailed down the most important issue, I believe.
We are trying to address the practice of buying more light than we need. Is a 40w necessary to light a hallway when 7w will do?

Rather than comparing to compact fluorescent, (which are wonderful, and we use, but we'd like to cut down even on these.) I'm comparing to oil lamp or candle light.
(As far as I've seen, fluorescent nightlights aren't available. )

I figure the Total cost would be 13.59 a year for 11 years.

Here are my figures:

I'm finding these LED lights a low as $3.00 ea, including the fixture and photo sensor. They cost .25 per year to operate if you use them for 10 hours a day, which I won't. They last approximately 11 years.

If I put 2 in every room and closet I have, plugged into an outlet that works with a switch, I'd need 26 of them, so thats $78 for the bulbs and the fixtures..
At 25 cents a year each, if I left these little lights on through out the night, it would cost $6.50 for electric for one year.


I know this would require a willingness to adapt to some change in lifestyle. Getting used to moving around in a generally darker space would be a bit odd at first.
As long as brighter, task lighting is strategically located and used judiciously, I don't think it would alter our way of life all that much.
And it would be so easy to set up an alternate energy source as a back up because the power requirements would be so low.

As an alternative, you could just buy a bunch of cheap 3.00 led flashlights and leave them around everywhere. I also use a string of LED christmas lights for my outdoor lighting. Comes on with a motion sensor and lights the way to the barn.

Where did you find LED Xmas lights?

Here's one place - but gad! they are expensive!

http://www.theledlight.com/index.html

They are not only expensive, but are less energy efficient than flourescent light bulbs.

You can usually find solar chargable bright white LED lanterns at home and garden stores. We bought some for our front walk between the house and garage. They light the path enough for us to see where we are going easily. Perhaps something along those lines where you set them out to charge during the day and bring them in at night.

Flashlight
 

I agree with the flashlight suggestion as that is what I use.

I also have some "Indiglo" night lights that are plugged in for constant use. They are rated at .03 of a watt. At that rate it would take a VERY LONG time to use a kilowatt hour.

Two places with LEDs are http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm and http://www.theledlight.com/

We have gotten them from superbrightleds.com a few times and were pleased with the service.

I have used this place for LED's before,
http://www.oznium.com/
I ordered a bag of 40 white LED's with resistors and it came to with shipping around 24 bucks. You don't want to be buying these things at radio shack.
Also check out the alternative power forum, those guys can help a lot.

Hmm, they weren't expensive here. Our electric co-op was selling them for $5 a 20' string last year.

I've bodged some SLED lights and have been using them one form of another for over a year. The latest version is just a little smaller.A few more details here: http://www.pbcheap.com/led-light-flashlights The range is pretty good too. I'll try and get some new photos of real world" use this week

How did you find a thread that is over 8 years old? Whenever I do a search, I can never find anything over a year old. What settings do I need to change to find really old thread? Thanks.

I know my next HD TV will be a LED one. They are better at energy conservation, better then LCD's LOL

Never mind, its a really old thread.

I think it just depends on what you search for, lol. The other day, I got some hits from 2003 and 2004! Talk about a blast from the past. :) I didn't even realize this site went back to 2003, thought it started in 2004.

> I especially like the fact that many of these lights are motion sensing and will turn off automatically. We have a couple of fixtures that, if forgotten, might burn for days before someone notices the light was left on. (example, the basement)


Doesn't matter if its an old thread, good topic.

I really question the above thought tho?

I got a 20 watt equivalent led bulb, screwed it into a 2prong bulb adaptor, and plugged it into an unused outlet in the basement.

Forget about it for the past 2 years, our house cat (sigh....) now has some light in the basement at night to find his box.

The bulb used 2.7 watts. That is peanuts.

How much materials and electricity does a motion sensor use? Is that ever listed? It would seem foolish to use a 5watt motion sensor to turn on and off a 2.7 watt led bulb........

We need to be careful that our savings are actually savings!

Paul

Recognizing that it is an old thread - LEDs have changed for the better in the intervening years. I solved the whole night-light issue here with a combo emergency/nite-light light in the master bath - if anything it is too bright, and a 7 watt light above the kitchen sink that stays on 24/7. We have only two places where CFLs have ever been cost effective - one bedroom ceiling light that is rarely used, and the slow warm-up to full brilliance is appreciated, and two drop fixtures where there is ample airflow for cooling. In EVERY other place I have tried them, the heat destroys the lamp within a few months. The quality of CFLs just continues to drop to the point that I've completely stopped buying them.

Again acknowledging its an old thread:

The cost of LED bulbs is dropping, as is their efficiency and power usage. LED bulbs come in 2 main types, standard Diode and Surface Mount; Surface mount types are then rated by the surface area in which they produce light. With the exception of 2 bulbs, my entire house is LED based lighting.

One big mistake people make is measuring their lighting in Watts, it should be measured in lumens. I use a great mismatch of types and wavelengths of light (my wife likes the warmer yellow color light, i prefer the clinical pure white nearing blue); But my basement and garrage have strip lights run across them, powered off of a switch and have a dimmer. My office is setup the same, and contains 2 strips at 12 ft, of 5050 cool white light surface mount led strips. They produce as much light in every 2 foot of strip as a 40 watt cheep incandescent light. The entire setup cost $25 dollars, takes approx 15 minutes to install, and the power converter is more likely to burn out than the bulbs with an expected lifespan of 4 and 8 yrs respectively.

Anyway, there are options...but its not cheep if you plan to go to a big box store and pick up your bulbs...i buy my LED bulbs online in bulk (10 at a time minimum) for about 25% of the price i find at the big box stores.

Can I ask where you're buying your bulbs? We've been slowly converting to LEDs, but they are pricey.

I should say, I actually very much like led bulbs, and as they ramp up in volume sales and newer designs, I see them as a good future lighting.

Anything but those awful squiggly bulbs the govt tried to foist upon us, cost lots, contain harmful vapors, and are too fragile to last. Sheez, typical govt.

Paul

Funny how much LEDs have progressed since this thread was started. Back in '06 I never would have considered using LEDs because of the cost and minimal light for the buck. Now I have switched to using strings of LED lights in areas where not much light is needed. I currently have a string of purple lights (Halloween clearance, paid $3 each for the strings) in the bathroom where we don't need a lot of light but you really have to have some light in the middle of the night. Much safer than candles or an oil lamp.

I've got CFL's that have been in use for 5+ years, I want them to burn out so I can change to LED's and they just won't die.

We have almost all led lights.

I have been replacing them all slowly for 2-3 years.

I use white led Xmas string lights for my back patio lighting on an Xmas light timer yearround also.

I have headache problems so I have to either buy frosted bulbs or have frosted lamp glass.

It has saved us a bundle of usage which has lowered the he size of solar power system I need.

I only bought them in person at stores. I was concerned about return ning them being difficult if I bought them online and had them shipped. I haven't always been sure which bulbs I want or which light fixtures and adapter/converter kits were right when we did the shop and basement with tube bulbs.

The best prices and choices I found locally were Menard's and do it best.

tmart.com
superbrightleds.com
and ebay

i prefer SMD (Surface mount) or glass encapsulated bulbs but i do the "corn" light style with traditional led in places that are more open (garage, outdoor, basement utility room);

If you want information on dimmers and switches and such I can get that to you also.

I ordered this:

Triangle Bulbs® 5M/16.4ft RGB Color strip lights with LED Flexible Strip, Controller with 24-Key Remote and Power Supply, SMD 3528 300 Leds, IP65 Waterproof

Kit includes RGB strip light that has 300 SMD 3528 LEDs, 24 Key controller, and power supply, IP65 Waterproof, High quality 3M Tape on the back of LED strip.
High Quality 3528 SMD 300 LED's, 5M/16.4 ft, high intensity and reliability, Long lifespan
Low power consumption, Every 3-LEDS cuttable without damaging the rest strips according to your requirement
Eco Friendly, High Quality 3528 SMD LED, high intensity and reliability, Long lifespan, great Remote range.
Strip is flexible and can be bent at any angle, Set static colors, adjust brightness, select various auto color changing modes via wireless remote

For $12.01 shipped recently through a seller on Amazon, for what that's worth. Haven't gotten it yet though, so can't report on it, shipping slow from little doubt China.

Okay so here is the info you wont get: RGB will be less bright than a standard single band (3500, 6k etc) white light. But, you will use approximately 1.5w per foot to operate, on a 3528 you have low range (older, most heat efficient but less light) smd LED. Here is the stats breakdown...

LED Dimensions Chip Surface Area Lumen Flux Power Draw
3528 LED 3.5 mm x 2.8 mm 9.8 mm² 6-8 lumens 20-30 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts
5050 LED 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm 25 mm² 16-22 lumens 60 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts
5630 LED 5.6 mm x 3.0 mm 16.8 mm² 45-50 lumens 150 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts


Hum, should i open a new thread on LED lights guys?

I won't buy LED's until I can get the SAME brightness or Lumens as I can get from a CFL. And that is at LEAST 6500K or in Lumens is at LEAST 1600 Lumens, Which is equal to a Standard 100 Watt incandescent bulb.
I want and need Brightness not just energy saving stuff.

I know Many years ago I gave a ear full to some telemarketer that was selling 10 year Light bulbs.
I looked into what they were sell and those 150 watt light bulbs were putting out No More Light (Lumens) then a 65 watt bulb~!
I needed Very High Lumens in place I was working at and I told that person in no uncertain terms I thought of those 10 year bulbs. SURE they would last a long time they were enow burning hot enough to Burn OUT~! LOL

And after all How much energy saving does a person REALLY need?
Keep a CFL on for 3 hours a day and at 1600 Lumens at 11 cents kWh cost is ONLY $3.13 a YEAR~!

One thing to consider when trying to save money - often times people will skimp and try to save a few bucks by doing things - said like cutting down on using lights - but then throw away much more than they save by going out to eat - for instance - my sister has a little savings in the bank and is always changing banks to get a little better interest rate - which only amounts to a couple bucks a year - I tell her not to worry about a couple bucks a year - just don't go out to eat one time and you'll save that amount of money -

I use the ottlite 100 watt equiv. CFL's in any room I will be working/reading in. Other than that, I don't really care. I have an assortment. With several different kinds of fixtures and bulb needs. My kitchen has two fixture with a total of 12 of those little candelabra bulbs and a 3-buld ceiling fan in the middle. I will eventually put energy savers in the ceiling fan but no way am I going to spend $120 for those dozen little bulbs. My electric runs $140-$150 a month on average. I doubt they would make a difference.

What should the efficiency be now? What are the new ones?

Those CFL bulbs are also known to burn out and start fires too. I had one fizzle out while I was sitting beside the lamp and when I went to change it I found the base had a burnt spot on it. That being said, I have some here that have been in use for years and still going. I don't like them personally because of the mercury used in them.

I picked up some lengths of led rope lighting the day after xmas at walmart for 1/2 off a few years ago and will continue to make the effort again to make it happen again.
We have been switching to all led outdoor lighting. It does not attract neart as many bugs. And makes it easier for the bugs to find the zapper.

Alaska, do you lay the strings out on the ground like a runway straight to the bug zapper? LOL.

I have seen the LED's at Walmart around Christmas. You can get a pretty good sized length of them, but I have never tried them out.

WE have a covered porch on three sides of the house and we have them up in eave. Just the right amount of light.
And a string in our great room behind some crown moulding.

I bought some older led bulbs at a Home and Garden Show. Turns out they were older technology and cause radio interference when on. Hate that as I have the stereo there and it drives me crazy trying to listen to music with the lights on.