A great idea
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered three compact fluorescent spotlights from . These are non-dimmable fluorescents that have the same form factor as the spots in the ceiling of our office, our kitchen, our hallway, and our basement. I only bought three because I wasn’t sure how well they would work. I didn’t know if the light from them would be pleasing. I didn’t know if they’d have visible flicker. I didn’t know if the turn-on delay would be too much. And they seem expensive — something like $14 each.
The lights came in a couple of days ago, and I hadn’t done anything with them yet. I figured I’d install them as the existing bulbs blew out. But I sat down last night with our utility bills — and in particular, our electricity bill. It was a bit of a shock. We’re paying 19.3 cents (0.193 US Dollars) per Kilowatt-hour (kWh). That’s a lot. I’m not sure what gets us up that high, but it makes certain decisions much easier.
I went to the hallway and unscrewed one of the lamps there. It’s a 65W PAR-30 spotlight…and it was hot. I replaced it with one of the new lamps and turned it on.
It took a moment to turn on…but the color was great (a bit whiter than the incandescent, but I like it — and they sell them in “warm white” as well as “daylight” colors). So I changed the other one too.
Power consumption for two bulbs went from 130 watts to 30 watts. Light output went up slightly. Flicker is nonexistent, even to my sensitive eyes. Turn-on time is acceptable.
Let’s do the math: for each bulb, I’m saving 50 watts per hour. These lights are on for about 6 hours a day. That’s 1.5 kW in 5 days; 9 kW in a month. At 20 cents per KwH, that’s $1.80 a month per bulb. At $14 each, these bulbs pay for themselves in 8 months purely on energy use! And they have a life of 2x to 3x the equivalent incandescent…which also makes them cost-effective even if evergy was free. It’s silly to replace them as they burn out: I’ve just ordered enough to replace every spot in our house.
For $28, you can get a version of these bulbs that can be dimmed. I bought one those too. It’s a little strange when you dim it — it gets dimmer, but unlike incandescents, it doesn’t change color.