| Do the math. It's costing you a *lot* more than a dollar a month to use a
house-full of
| incandescents.
|
| Consider just *one* 60W incandescent that's used an average of 4 hours per
day. That's
| 120 hours per month, times 60 watts, equals 7200 watt-hours or 7.2 KwH per
month.
|

I don't remember what our bill is offhand. I think
it's about $40-$50 per month, so I'm certainly not
going to see $25 savings by changing lightbulbs.
(Some of that cost is trumped up service fees.
I expect computers and may workshop are by far
the most expensive costs.)

CFLs are for areas where they stay on for long
periods. The reason they burn out so quickly is
because they were never designed for general use.
In many of the places I might use them they often
wouldn't even get fully lit before I turn them off.
(Hallway, bathroom, cellar, etc.) And I find them
just too ugly to use.

LEDs might eventually be very good, but right now
they're still new. It's fad appeal. People talk about
how much money they're saving, which makes sense
for an always-on nightlight, but in most other uses
it just isn't significant.

I also wonder about the logic
of so many people who say they're going to such
great lengths to save money. Do those people *really*
try to save money sensibly? Do you keep your thermostat
down to 60F and skip using AC unless you live in the deep
south or southwest? Do you avoid unnecessary, high
demand appliances like dishwashers, garbage disposals
and hair dryers? Do you turn off the TV when you're not
watching it and turn off lights when you leave the room?
And that's not even getting into the really dumb money
wasters, like paying Starbucks $4 for one's morning coffee.
Anyone who doesn't at least follow simple, sensible guidelines
like that is only playing at saving money; or is a symbolic
money saver -- one of those people who will spend a dollar
to save a dime.

Many years ago, when there was a Zayre's store, they
had 3rd brake lights on sale. The 3rd-light had just become
standard and people thought it was clever to retrofit older
cars. I was in Zayre's for something and the man behind
me in line was holding 5 lights, which was the limit per
customer. He was thrilled that he had managed to get there
in time to buy 5 of them; so much so that he started
bubbling over about his good fortune to me. I asked whether
he had 5 cars to put all those lights in. His face dropped.
It clearly had never occurred to him to think whether he
could actually use 5 brake lights.