A 'Green' Law that Makes Sense

[dellinger63]

Starting the 1rst of the year 40 Watt and 60 Watt bulbs will be discontinued. Being a natural born cynic I decided to do the math behind the choice between hoarding or going LED.

A standard 40Watt bulb was priced at $1.50 and is advertised to last 2000 hrs.

A 7.5Watt LED substitute is available for $10.00 and is advertised to last 25,000 hours.

So while the new LED is 6.6 times the price it works 12.5 times longer.

Now I estimated my personal use of an individual light bulb at 5 hours per day and that translates into roughly a year and a month for the average life of the standard 40Watt bulb. The life for a LED bulb would be roughly 13 years and 7 months. So by switching to LED you nullify the extra cost in the 7th year and more importantly don't have to change it 12 times. A no brainer to go to LED.

Now power wise the 40watt bulb uses 40watts/hour or .04Kilowatt/hr. multiplied by 5 hours/use per day times 365 days equals 73 Kilowatts in a year. A 7.5watt bulb would use 13.7 kilowatts. With an average price of electricity at 13cents a Kw hour comes to a yearly cost of $8.76/year for the standard bulb and $1.78 for LED bulb. A $6.98 savings per year in electricity bills. Again no brainer to go LED.

Over a ten year period you'd save $3.50 on bulbs, almost $70 on electricity and probably the best advantage, avoid changing the bulb 9 times! Times as many lights you use!

[jms62]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Starting the 1rst of the year 40 Watt and 60 Watt bulbs will be discontinued. Being a natural born cynic I decided to do the math behind the choice between hoarding or going LED.

A standard 40Watt bulb was priced at $1.50 and is advertised to last 2000 hrs.

A 7.5Watt LED substitute is available for $10.00 and is advertised to last 25,000 hours.

So while the new LED is 6.6 times the price it works 12.5 times longer.

Now I estimated my personal use of an individual light bulb at 5 hours per day and that translates into roughly a year and a month for the average life of the standard 40Watt bulb. The life for a LED bulb would be roughly 13 years and 7 months. So by switching to LED you nullify the extra cost in the 7th year and more importantly don't have to change it 12 times. A no brainer to go to LED.

Now power wise the 40watt bulb uses 40watts/hour or .04Kilowatt/hr. multiplied by 5 hours/use per day times 365 days equals 73 Kilowatts in a year. A 7.5watt bulb would use 13.7 kilowatts. With an average price of electricity at 13cents a Kw hour comes to a yearly cost of $8.76/year for the standard bulb and $1.78 for LED bulb. A $6.98 savings per year in electricity bills. Again no brainer to go LED.

Over a ten year period you'd save $3.50 on bulbs, almost $70 on electricity and probably the best advantage, avoid changing the bulb 9 times! Times as many lights you use!

Good luck with that 25K hours I've used those type of bulbs and they blow and fail well short. They are banking in the fact that people won't go through the hassle of returning them.

[GenuineRisk]

I sprang for one of the $40 lightbulbs (I do audio recording and needed a bulb that wasn't hot and wouldn't make a buzzing noise like the fluorescent ones do), and it's been great. It's supposed to last for 20 years. I'll get back to you in a couple of decades if it did, but I read an article that said that lightbulbs may reach a point where they last so long that they are something people take with them when they move homes, like furniture.

It seems crazy to think of a time when people might buy just a few lightbulbs in their lives, but it'd be great for reducing landfill.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I sprang for one of the $40 lightbulbs (I do audio recording and needed a bulb that wasn't hot and wouldn't make a buzzing noise like the fluorescent ones do), and it's been great. It's supposed to last for 20 years. I'll get back to you in a couple of decades if it did, but I read an article that said that lightbulbs may reach a point where they last so long that they are something people take with them when they move homes, like furniture.

It seems crazy to think of a time when people might buy just a few lightbulbs in their lives, but it'd be great for reducing landfill.

Not only fewer bulbs in the landfill, but CFLs(compact fluorescent lights) are supposed to use 80% less energy than the old incandescent bulbs and therefore a lot less fossil fuel is required to make the electricity which I think should be helping in the air pollution department also.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I sprang for one of the $40 lightbulbs (I do audio recording and needed a bulb that wasn't hot and wouldn't make a buzzing noise like the fluorescent ones do), and it's been great. It's supposed to last for 20 years. I'll get back to you in a couple of decades if it did, but I read an article that said that lightbulbs may reach a point where they last so long that they are something people take with them when they move homes, like furniture.

It seems crazy to think of a time when people might buy just a few lightbulbs in their lives, but it'd be great for reducing landfill.

Oh sorry, I just noticed you said you didn't use the fluorescent bulbs. Mine don't seem to make a buzzing noise, but I guess, if you are using sensitive recording equipment, it probably picks up the slightest noise.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by cal828

Oh sorry, I just noticed you said you didn't use the fluorescent bulbs. Mine don't seem to make a buzzing noise, but I guess, if you are using sensitive recording equipment, it probably picks up the slightest noise.

It's something you can hear if you put your ear right up next to them, and yeah, recording equipment can pick up EVERYTHING (stomach grumbles are my particular nemesis). I'm not aware of the buzzing unless I'm recording. So I find fluorescents totally fine for everyday use. The $$ one I bought is (I think) an LCD.

Although lately I've just been reading the text on an iPad and sitting in the dark!

[cal828]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

It's something you can hear if you put your ear right up next to them, and yeah, recording equipment can pick up EVERYTHING (stomach grumbles are my particular nemesis). I'm not aware of the buzzing unless I'm recording. So I find fluorescents totally fine for everyday use. The $$ one I bought is (I think) an LCD.

Although lately I've just been reading the text on an iPad and sitting in the dark!

Never heard of an LCD, but there is an LED (light emitting diode) and as you said these are kind of expensive. CFLs are usually somewhere in between the incandescents and the LEDs. Both CFLs and LEDs last longer than incandescents. Apparently, turning them on and off a lot makes the CFLs not last as long. Also, putting them in recessed light sockets. Both seem to be good for the environment as far as energy usage is concerned; however, the CFLs contain mercury which is not so good.