Tag: Energy

LED Bulbs Coming into their Own?

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100-240V 2W (15W equivalent) E27 Osram LED Lig...
Image via Wikipedia

We bought our first LED light bulb a few months ago and put it into our desk lamp. The suspicious yet understandable issue with LED lightbulbs is lumens.

We aren’t used to lumens. We’re used to watts. Even though they aren’t accurate. CFL lightbulbs are labeled with lumens, which indicate light output, but they also note the equivalent in a traditional incandescent bulb because that is what we understand. Those notes are suspiciously missing from the LED packaging we see.

Even CNET’s Green Tech, and its editor, Martin LaMonica agrees with us.  But, he advises that is changing. He tried some samples from Lighting Science Group, which manufactures many of the LED bulbs for Home Depot‘s Ecosmart line. The bulbs are available on the Home Depot website, and should be in stores sometime this month.

But these bulbs which are getting brighter and more capable of what we demand of them are not cheap. Twenty to thirty-five dollars for a single light bulb is a bit much. The savings over time are a consideration, but the price will have to drop before it becomes a mainstream option.

The Department of Energy is set to unveil a program to help shoppers understand these new options. They will have a new label called Lighting Facts. It certainly will help if all bulbs use the same designations. We guess it is time to internalize the lumens system.

In the meantime, we have added some Sylvania ACCENT LED bulbs to a bathroom. Three produce enough to shine in this small room. But we knew that going in that they weren’t incredibly bright. We compared the lumens to the package of CFLs next to them at the store.

The concern is that the information isn’t getting to us. The New York Times reports that the Federal Trade Commission is suing Lights of America for misrepresenting the light output and life expectancy of their LED lightbulbs. For example, the company claimed one of its bulbs could replace a 40-watt incandescent, which typically puts out 400 lumens. They found the bulb in question only produced 74 lumens. In addition, they claimed another bulb would last 30,000 hours, but lost 80% of its light output after only 1,000 hours.

The company responded by stating that the bulbs that are the focus of the suit were introduced before formal standards were established for LED’s. Furthermore, they advise that they already responded by removing the equivalency claims from its packaging…which explains why the useful comparison of equivalency is omitted from LED packaging.

In the end, we’ll continue to experiment with these bulbs. Why? Because they last longer, use less electricity, and like the CFLs of a few years ago, will continue to improve. Why? Because the government and the public demands it.

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Turning off Your Lights Part 1 – Occupancy Sensors and Countdown Timers

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Smarthome, Inc.

In the 70s, President Jimmy Carter told America it was time to turn off their lights. Not making this a political blog and discussing Carter overall, Jimmy Carter’s comments on energy are exactly what people are prioritizing today. Turning things off when they aren’t in use makes financial sense. Energy costs money, so why waste it?

We know someone who thinks Global Warming and such are a crock, but even they are pro energy efficiency for financial reasons. So, whether you are in it for the money, or the loftier planet-saving, or something in between, wasting less energy seems like a good thing. We have previously discussed energy saving power strips that shut things off when not in us(link).

Now, we’re going to cover some other switch types for shutting off your power. We’re focusing on lights, but there are other things that can be hooked up to such switches.

Let’s start with countdown timers. We use a countdown timer for the bathroom exhaust fan…which is coincidentally a good way to time limit your showers. You press a button, and the light/fan/etc is on for a period of time. The one we use has 10-20-30-60 minute buttons. Where can this feature be used to good effect elsewhere?

The other equivalent option is the occupancy sensor. It detects movement in the room. These things are often made fun of, because if you stay too still for a period of time, they tend to turn off. But as long as you move regularly, it should be fine. Positioning is important though, as the sensors have defined range.

These two options are the cheapest way, other than remembering to flick the switch, to turn off your lights. Sure, it costs money to get them…but remember the reward. Stay tuned.