Since I've been talking about how we're cutting our electricity use, I thought I'd let you know the progress we've been making. It's been one month since we began our new reduced-electric lifestyle. We are billed every other month, so I won't actually receive a statement from the utility provider for another month, but I have been watching the meter, and doing my own calculations.
For the billing cycle, which spanned from May 10 to July 10, we used over 23 KWH of electricity per day. We are now down to about 10 KWH per day, for a savings of about $1.15 each day, or $35.00 a month!
Oh, just what am I gonna do with all my new-found riches?!! Okay, so not a huge sum of money, but $35 we save, is $35 we don't have to earn. As we don't need this savings to live on for another month (our income will be reduced mid-August, and I base each month's budget on the previous month's earnings), I've chosen to invest this savings in something that will save even more in the long run.
I had errands to run yesterday, taking me around town, including Home Depot. I bought 3 LED light bulbs to try out, two 60-watt equivalents, and one 40-watt equivalent. The 60-watt equivalent bulbs use 9.5 and 10.5 watts of electricity each, and the 40-watt equivalent uses 6 watts per hour. I placed these in frequently-used fixtures in the house. So far, the light is quite pleasing.
I chose 3 different bulbs, so that we could compare the quality of light. Two are Cree warm light bulbs, one 60-watt equivalent, and one 40-watt equivalent. The third is a bright white Philips 60-watt equivalent. The Philips bright white is in a covered fixture in a location needing good visibility, but not necessarily good ambient lighting. The two warm light bulbs are for my daughters' shared room. They study in there during the school term, and really require decent lighting. One of my daughters noticed right away that there was a change in lighting, and she voiced her approval immediately.
In my daughters' room alone, we'll save about 14 KWH per month, or $1.25/month, in cost to operate. The LED light seems brighter, and I was able to step down in watt equivalents, from the incandescents we had in there. The bulbs are priced just over $10 each. In electric savings, the bulbs will have paid for themselves in about 1 & 1/2 years, not including the savings over needing to replace incandescent bulbs frequently.
As the months progress, and our savings on electricity continue, I plan on using a portion of the savings on more conservation light bulbs. In winter, our electricity use ticks upwards, mostly due to increased need for lighting. I hope to minimize the effect on our monthly bills.
So, that's where we stand with our electricity reduction plan. Have you tried the LED bulbs in your house? Do you have an opinion on the quality of light or the bulbs themselves? How would you compare the light to that of CFLs?
