Going Green and Saving the environment

[digiblur]

Same here... I also have many of mine pointing down. I had a circuit that had a short causing flickering of the light. It didnt last 1 month. Now that I fixed the short in the light switch the bulb has been kicking for quite a while now.

 

[rv1pop]

DeeAnn (and others),

I posted earlier that IF you do not leave the lights on for at least 20 minutes, you drastically shorten the life of the bulb, BOTH the curly-Q or the straight ones. If you turn it on when you come into the room and off every time you leave the room and you do this 30 times a day, you can expect a week for the bulb. I had a custormer with three on a motion detector. The neighbors cats would trigger it. The bulbs lasted only TWO nights! Most motion detectors tell you not to use these lights for that reason. The older bulbs (and a few of the newer ones- but not many) do say to burn (or use) base down only. The cost diference is only about 1/4th of a cent, so most manufacturers make bulbs that will work in ANY position. I have bulbs here that have been in service up, down and sideways for over 3 years. The only failure was on a bulb that was subject to enougjh vibration to cause it to turn on and off - flickering. I rehung that one, and no more problem.
There is only one other item I have noticed, if you can, be sure the neutral wire, aslo known as the grounded conductor, is connected to the shell, rather than the center, especially if in a cool location (under 60° F). Otherwise, STARTING may take too lond and shorten life.

 

[funkypc]

I posted earlier that IF you do not leave the lights on for at least 20 minutes, you drastically shorten the life of the bulb, BOTH the curly-Q or the straight ones. If you turn it on when you come into the room and off every time you leave the room and you do this 30 times a day, you can expect a week for the bulb.

So I guess these bulbs aren't saving that much after all if they have to be left on for long periods to last.
Funny, I was at the hospital the other day, and in one of the rooms they have a CFL bulb, with the switch taped in the on position, and a sign stating that the light needs to be on all the time or else it flickers to much!

I still say nothing is more environmentally friendly than glass and wire!

 

[rv1pop]

I have mentioned another supplier for my solar equipment, and lest some think I am slighting Sadoun, note that his priced for the 20 watt panel at~ $70 is less than backwoods price of $120 by $50 bucks. Good bargain if it is big enough for your project.
POP

 

[digiblur]

So I guess these bulbs aren't saving that much after all if they have to be left on for long periods to last.
Funny, I was at the hospital the other day, and in one of the rooms they have a CFL bulb, with the switch taped in the on position, and a sign stating that the light needs to be on all the time or else it flickers to much!

I still say nothing is more environmentally friendly than glass and wire!

I use them in areas every where in my house. The only old-school bulbs you'll find are the little ones in my microwave. My bulb went out in my fridge and even put a CFL in there since I had nothing else to throw in there. It's been in there for months...lol... We use them in rooms where the light only stays on for a few minutes, like the bathroom, with no issues.

 

[rv1pop]

So I guess these bulbs aren't saving that much after all if they have to be left on for long periods to last.
Funny, I was at the hospital the other day, and in one of the rooms they have a CFL bulb, with the switch taped in the on position, and a sign stating that the light needs to be on all the time or else it flickers to much!

I still say nothing is more environmentally friendly than glass and wire!

The saving is when you leave the lights on for longer perioids. I am using 85 watts, 6 to 7 hours a day, in a work room where I was using 380 watts before. That means saving about 1.8 KWH per day. It also means using a 225 watt inverter rather than an 800 watt inverter and the 230 watt solar panels can keep keep the batteries charged except in this cloudy winter time. (I know windows would cut down on some needed extra power, but add to security problems.)

The incandesant bulbs were lasting about 10 months. The CFL's are now over 2 1/2 years old.

 

[funkypc]

In my house if I use incandescents, a little more power to heat my house comes from hydro-electricity (renewable) that would otherwise be heated with natural gas (non-renewable).
And in summer, I hardly have the lights on because it stays bright outside late into the evening.

 

[Sadoun]

I have mentioned another supplier for my solar equipment, and lest some think I am slighting Sadoun, note that his priced for the 20 watt panel at~ $70 is less than backwoods price of $120 by $50 bucks. Good bargain if it is big enough for your project.
POP

Thank you. Correction our 20Watt Mono panel price is currently on sale at $99 plus shipping.

These prices we are offering on our Sadoun Brand Solar panels is a limited time special deal.

We are a direct importer of these panels and we pass the savings on to our customers. The quality control is outstanding at the factory we use to make these panels.

Mono-Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Solar Power Modules

 

[Dee_Ann]

Wow, leaving the lights on 20 minutes each time? That's just not going to work for me. I'm very picky about turning lights off when I'm not in a room. I just can't do that, leave a light on when there is no one in a room. That's just wrong.

I want to replace my lights with led lights but I still will always keep an old fashioned kind around for those times when I need super bright light like doing housework and such things.

But these curly lamps, I don't like them so much simply for the fact of how fast they burn out.

For now I buy them at the Dollar store. I'm not going to pay $8 for a bulb at Home Depot that's going to burn out in a few months when I can get and identical bulb at the dollar store. For a dollar.

But if the led lights last forever and are vibration proof, I'm interested. At least half of my lights are on ceiling fans that are a bit on the wobbly side..

By the way, my dad had a weird suggestion. He said some people put 12 volt lights in their houses like in a travel trailer, he said they use less electricity that 110 volt lights and put out just as much light and that they can run on batteries that are easy and cheap to charge up. But I'm assuming that means you would have to pay someone to change it all out. Sounds too complicated to me.

I would like to have some skylights put in and get some free daylight into the place. That would be pretty neat. My plants would be happy happy.

 

[Sadoun]

Wow, leaving the lights on 20 minutes each time? That's just not going to work for me.

Dee,

I agree with you and it kind of defeats the purpose. But nevertheless, it is a better alternative than the incandescent for the time being.

I am leaning towards LED as a better alternative for CFL or incandescent. We will have to wait until the prices become competitive. LED lights last 4 times more than a CFL and 60 times more than an incandescent.

http://www.switched.com/2009/03/10/new-philips-led-light-bulb-lasts-for-45-000-hours/

 

[vfrjim]

I am also leaning towards LED, it seems that the newer LED's are getting more lumens/watt so a 4 watt LED equal a 40 watt halogen bulb (as long as you can take a 5000K light color), gonna try one to see how it is.

 

[funkypc]

I don't think LED's will be the answer for everything. They will probably work ok for some things like signal lights and traffic lights (in warmer climates).
LED's are directional. Ever notice when you use an LED flash light, you can't see anything in the shadow? Thats because the LED light really doesn't seem to reflect like incandescent light.
I notice this especially when trying to use an LED flashlight while working on my car. In the engine bay, if I shine directly on something I can see it, but I can't see anything in the deep crevices of the engine bay. The light just does not reflect there.
With an incandescent, the light bounces into every corner. No problem with shadows as light will bounce in from around them to illuminate what otherwise would not be seen.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very frugal! I love to save every Watt of power that I can.
But I will not compromise the quality of the light in my home!

 

[vfrjim]

got my electric bill for January, figured that I would share:

01/27/2010 30 days Actual 159 kwh's $27.31

last year was 423 kwh's