First installment of LEDs

[Okjoek]

Years ago we had bought large bulk boxes of incandescent light bulbs. It seemed sensible given the unpredictable/unstable nature of capitalism. However I was very young at the time so I wasn't around in the capacity to explain that newer more efficient technologies would make the aspect of lighting far more efficient.

 

Some period of time later (sorry for my vagueness I didn't exactly log this stuff) we supplemented newer fluorescent bulbs ("swirly ones" my younger self called them(I'm 21)) in the sockets that were more annoying to get to to change since they lasted much longer.

 

I am happy to announce that with the old stockpile of our ancient incandescent light bulbs finally nearing its end we purchased our first iteration two LED light bulbs, one of which is now in my desk lamp clamped to the side of my desk I'm typing this on. I have to say that I'm impressed. I turned on a 60w incandescent bulb for about a minute and it was quite hot to handle upon removing it, whereas the LED has been running over an hour now and is only faintly warm and can be handled with ease. For any increase in initial cost I think we will be getting more than we paid for as they last even longer than the fluorescent ones (Now we get to talk about changing them after years and not months!). I look forward to seeing the remaining incandescent bulbs disappearing completely in our house and maybe even the fluorescent ones aswell.

[Senzelian]

I wish I would get so excited about a few LEDs... 
Which is even funnier considering I don't have any LEDs installed in my house apart from a LED strip at the edge of my desk.

[Okjoek]

2 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I wish I would get so excited about a few LEDs... 
Which is even funnier considering I don't have any LEDs installed in my house apart from a LED strip at the edge of my desk.

Do you use primarily Incandescent or Fluorescent then?

 

 

[Senzelian]

Do you use primarily Incandescent or Fluorescent then?

Incantescents aren't allowed here in Germany, so only fluorescent.

[Okjoek]

2 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Incantescents aren't allowed here in Germany, so only fluorescent.

Oh wow, for real? I did not know that. I could totally get behind that though as it would save a large amount of electricity in a collective standpoint. US has this weird mentality though that prevents rapid change even if it's for the benefit of the collective.

[Senzelian]

21 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

Oh wow, for real? I did not know that. I could totally get behind that though as it would save a large amount of electricity in a collective standpoint. US has this weird mentality though that prevents rapid change even if it's for the benefit of the collective.

Actually it's not only in Germany, but in the whole EU.
They are very inefficient. A incandescent lamp only uses around 5% of its energy to create light. The rest is heat.
You'll pay around 5-10 times as much for electricity compared to their purchase price. So at the end they actually cost more than fluorescent light.
One LED can safe up to 70kg of CO² compared to a incandescent lamp.
European households safe over 5.000.000.000 € per year since they changed to fluorescent and LEDs.

I'm not a large fan of europe, but when it comes to energy efficiency and eco friendliness it's pretty great.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Senzelian

[Uber Hamburgler]

On 4/11/2016 at 6:02 PM, Okjoek said:

Oh wow, for real? I did not know that. I could totally get behind that though as it would save a large amount of electricity in a collective standpoint. US has this weird mentality though that prevents rapid change even if it's for the benefit of the collective.

It is also illegal to sell incandescents over 40 Watts in the U.S. as well except for halogens intended for outdoor use.  I still semi-legally purchase the from Honk Kong on Ebay though because I really can't stand harsh white fluorescent lighting and LEDs remain too expensive (besides in the winter they put out enough heat that the furnace doesn't have to run as much).