[MyHomeIsInOcala]

I am only posting this silly thread because in November, the hubby and I decided to buy all new light bulbs... The Energy saving florescent bulbs. (the new ones are far nicer than the older ones!!) We spent around $80 on bulbs (they where on sale).

Anyway, we replaced all the interior, garage and exterior lights (except flood lights, because we do not turn those on), a total of 28 light bulbs, 6 in the kitchen alone. Our bill usually runs about $240-$250 range... This month's bill: It was $141

Has anyone else done this??

(We are a Family of 7 and the whole house is electric)

[Shores9]

Originally Posted by MyHomeIsInOcala

I am only posting this silly thread because in November, the hubby and I decided to buy all new light bulbs... The Energy saving florescent bulbs. (the new ones are far nicer than the older ones!!) We spent around $80 on bulbs (they where on sale).

Anyway, we replaced all the interior, garage and exterior lights (except flood lights, because we do not turn those on), a total of 28 light bulbs, 6 in the kitchen alone. Our bill usually runs about $240-$250 range... This month's bill: It was $141

Has anyone else done this??

(We are a Family of 7 and the whole house is electric)

Now there’s something to be positive about. Instead of complaining about your bill you did something (other than complain)! I did something similar with radiant foil barrier in the attic and it had a huge impact on my bill.

[Fodder]

Wow!!!
I had no idea the savings could be that high, I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[bale002]

Good public service announcement, thanks!

[NHtoFLMom]

Thanks! I have been meaning to do that....you just motivated me to do it sooner!!!!

[macguy]

Originally Posted by NHtoFLMom

Thanks! I have been meaning to do that....you just motivated me to do it sooner!!!!

If you go to the Home Depot you can get the contractors packs for like 12 bulbs for $20.00. Just switching my 100 watt floods to 15 watt CF bulbs saved us $33.00 a month. You don't have to guess either, you can quickly do the math on the usage based on your local kWh cost. With the energy problems we have in this country they should not even be allowed to sell the incandescent bulbs anymore. The same with CRT monitors, they are huge energy wasters and people never turn them off.

[Edvard]

Also, you don't replace bulbs nearly as often saving you bulb prices and labor.

[MyHomeIsInOcala]

That is true, your CFLs will last for many MANY years, we have one that is about 6 or 7 years old now and it still works, but it is larger than and not as bright as the new ones are.

We got ours at Lowe's they are the n:vision brand of soft white. In our kitchen alone we reduced our wattage from 415 watts to 83 watts when you flip the switch on. Now, figure we replaced 22 other 60 watt bulbs (1320 watts) with 22 13 watt bulbs (286 watts).



I will go check home depot for those contractor packs, what great gifts!!! Everyone likes to save money! hahaha

[mead]

Don't you have problems with the way it looks though? I tried replacing a couple of my lamps with the new bulbs but the light wasn't that great. I currently have a stack of them sitting in my closet.

The only place I've really kept these lights is in the bathroom and the hallway where i don't need so much light.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by mead

Don't you have problems with the way it looks though? I tried replacing a couple of my lamps with the new bulbs but the light wasn't that great. I currently have a stack of them sitting in my closet.

The only place I've really kept these lights is in the bathroom and the hallway where i don't need so much light.

You may just need to buy a bigger wattage but you will still have a big saving. Some are made differently also and the squiggly bulb is inside a round bulb to make it look like a standard bulb. There is a loss of brightness with those. If for some reason you just have to have a standard bulb at least use the CF's where you can.