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We certainly have not saved $5 a year per LED bulb we've changed in our house or my business. Not even close....far less!
Well if you leave an incandescent and a LED in a drawer and never turn either on you would do better not to buy the LED. If however you use them it is virtually guaranteed that the LED wins. Even on relatively low usage.
Well if you leave an incandescent and a LED in a drawer and never turn either on you would do better not to buy the LED. If however you use them it is virtually guaranteed that the LED wins. Even on relatively low usage.
Who said they were in a drawer? Not everyone uses a ton of lights in their home! Some of use only use them when absolutely necessary. We don't leave lights on in rooms we're not using. There's 2 of us. The dogs don't turn lights on. For many folks, the difference in the electric bill is minimal.
At my business, we've switched from halogen to LED on over 40 bulbs. Our bill did NOT drop in the past year. It has actually gone up. There's tax increases, electric rates increase, delivery price increases.
CFLs don't have ballasts. Fluorescent lamps do. But that is not a CFL. It is actually virtually free to design a fluorescent with a dimmable ballast. But I would think that was only a commercial product.
I do not know of any one pushing conventional ballast to dimming though it would be simple in the electronic ones.
What do you think the F in CFL stands for? Of course they have ballasts. Every CFL ever manufactured has a ballast in the base.
What do you think the F in CFL stands for? Of course they have ballasts. Every CFL ever manufactured has a ballast in the base.
Not really. Fluorescent had an exterior box that basically provided a constant current drive for the device. That was referred to as a ballast.
LEDs have the same sort of drive...you need something that regulates the current through them
So no CFLs do not have a separate device to regulate current. And often the separate device regulates the current through more than one fluorescent bulb.
There is a similar function in the regulator for CFL and LED. But we do not call it a ballast.
Who said they were in a drawer? Not everyone uses a ton of lights in their home! Some of use only use them when absolutely necessary. We don't leave lights on in rooms we're not using. There's 2 of us. The dogs don't turn lights on. For many folks, the difference in the electric bill is minimal.
At my business, we've switched from halogen to LED on over 40 bulbs. Our bill did NOT drop in the past year. It has actually gone up. There's tax increases, electric rates increase, delivery price increases.
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The limit case is in a drawer. Anything that actually uses current favors the LED. And the margin is fouur times or more favoring the LED. So if you run long enough the LED always wins.
For standard light fixtures, LEDs are a no brainer. But my dusk-dawn fixtures ate LEDs for breakfast; they'd only last a month or two before burning out. I eventually figured out that only the dimmable ones can survive the circuitry in the dusk-dawn fixtures.
It was frustrating because dusk-dawn fixtures stand to benefit the most from the reduced power usage since they are literally on all night long.
For standard light fixtures, LEDs are a no brainer. But my dusk-dawn fixtures ate LEDs for breakfast; they'd only last a month or two before burning out. I eventually figured out that only the dimmable ones can survive the circuitry in the dusk-dawn fixtures.
It was frustrating because dusk-dawn fixtures stand to benefit the most from the reduced power usage since they are literally on all night long.
Why in the world would you keep a outside light on all night??
Why in the world would you keep a outside light on all night??
My condo community has dusk-dawn lights outside every unit. Above each garage and in the porch area. They are on a light sensor, no on/off switch. We do not have street lights on poles, so they are the only light source at night. I suppose they help with security.
I often wonder this as my neighbors keep theirs on in both the front and backyards. Maybe some people just aren't comfortable with the darkness?
Police Dept highly recommends it as an anti crime measure. Particularly out here in the equestrian properties (no street lights) they push to light the properties up at night. We light the center island in our cul de sac as well.
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Not everyone uses a ton of lights in their home! Some of use only use them when absolutely necessary. We don't leave lights on in rooms we're not using. There's 2 of us. The dogs don't turn lights on. For many folks, the difference in the electric bill is minimal. 
