Energy-efficient Lighting

I have used “soft white” incandescent light bulbs my whole life.  I decided to try “daylight” LED light bulbs, and I have mixed feelings.  LED bulbs have definitely improved.  Older LED flashlights and nightlights produced almost no light.  Now, they are excellent.

I have five ceiling fans that use four light bulbs each.  Of course, I don’t use all four in certain rooms.  Many years ago, I installed CFL light bulbs in one room, but I don’t like them.  Plus, they’re not dimmable.  I tend to use a lamp in that room unless I know I’m going to spend several hours in there.

I’ve been playing musical bulbs for a while as bulbs die.  I finally needed to buy more bulbs, and I installed dimmable, daylight LED bulbs in my living room.  That room is incredibly bright now!  I don’t even use them at their full strength, and they’re still brighter than soft white bulbs.  Instead of having the natural light that I expected, colors tend to get washed out.  Oh well.

I was told the daylight bulbs would provide a natural light so the colors in photos would come out like I expected.  That’s not true.  I still only have one good room in my house for taking pictures.  That room has the best morning sunlight.

I also bought an LED light for my front porch that is supposed to turn on and off automatically at dusk and dawn.  Well, the porch blocks too much light, and it only stays off for a few hours.  So, I have to turn it off and on.  I like having the light for security, especially since my neighbors haven’t been using theirs as much.  I’ve pretty much been using theirs for security for years.  Many years ago, I bought an adapter to change an incandescent bulb into a day/night bulb, but it didn’t fit in the light fixture, and I had to return it.  I’m glad this bulb fits.

Even though I haven’t used it as much as I should, I’ve had to replace my porch light more than any other light in my house.  I’m hoping the LED will last longer even though I’m using it more.  It may be the salty air instead of actual use that has been causing them to go bad, and I hope the new bulbs are better protected.  There are some incandescent bulbs that I’ve never changed in the 14 years I’ve lived here; I even use them all the time!  I’m finally putting a day/night LED on my back patio.  The sensor should work better than the one on the front porch.

Even though I’m using more light, I’m using less energy.  So, that’s a win-win!  It took me a long time to start switching from incandescent bulbs since energy-efficient lighting used to be terrible.  Have you made the switch?

Linda 🙂