Our old house is filled with old wiring. While we've done what we can to rewire some of our house and we've gone above and beyond to better distribute the load on each circuit, our kitchen lights make me nervous.
We've got nine recessed lights that we put in two years ago. The lights are on a dimmer and because the dimmable CFL bulbs hummed and didn't exactly dim, we stuck with incandescent bulbs.
But the incandescent bulbs get hot. The whole darn room gets hot; not such a bad thing in the winter, but definitely not good in the summer. Hot bulbs mean we're using a ton of energy. And hot bulbs mean hot wires. Hot old wires. So this week in the name of safety and energy efficiency we're taking smart old-house precautions and making the switch to LED.
I bought four of these dimmable LED bulbs by Philips since I read somewhere that when it comes to LED bulbs you should go with one of the major name brands, a "you get what you pay for" warning. I have no idea if that's true. (That was a white lie, my mom told me that and I have no idea where she
read it. But she's a pretty smart cookie, so we'll go with it.) Anyway, I'll let you know in 22.8 years if these guys go the distance.
The lights were pricey, especially since I needed flood-light size, but I found them on sale for a buy one get one promo, which brought the price to $24 per light. Even on sale, it stings to write that. But they come with a 6 year warranty, should last 22.8 years based on 3 hours of use 7 days a week, and should only cost $1.57 per year based on 11cents per kWh. Facts...straight from the box, whose UPC code I will be keeping for that 6 year warranty, btw. Where did I put my receipt?
I have a feeling that, like everything else in NoVA, we pay way more than 11cents per kilowatt hour for energy. Regardless, I'm not counting on these guys to be our golden ticket to overall lower utility costs, we're merely looking for safety and are trying to do our part to increase our home's energy efficiency. I do, however, have my fingers crossed that we see a little difference on our next electric bill.
Even with only 4 lights mixed in with the other 5, they have a noticeably whiter light than the incandescent, which S pointed out last night, makes our cabinets look whiter. Excellent, I'm not a fan of cream. And while last night was kind of chilly, I did notice the kitchen didn't get quite as hot as it usually does. Of course that could be because baby M's daycare momma sent him home with a HUGE Sri Lankan dinner for us, so dinner prep was a few quick zaps in the microwave and we didn't exactly have the lights, oven or stove on all at once.
Want to take a step to greenifying your house too just in time for Earth Day? Ace Hardware has offered to give one of our readers a $25 gift card to spend on a greenifying product of your choice!
How to Enter (max 3 entries one comment per entry):
1. Leave a comment and tell us what steps you plan to take this year to make your home a little more energy efficient
2. Tweet, blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway and provide the link in a comment below
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Make sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win, and don't forget to check out Ace Hardware's Lou's tips on how to make your house more green.
We were not compensated by Ace Hardware nor did Ace Hardware provide text, images or products for this post. Ace Hardware will provide one $25 gift card to the giveaway winner. Contest ends Saturday, April 28 at 6pm EDT. Winner will be chosen by random number generator and will be notified via email within 48 hours. Prize must be claimed within 48 hours or an alternate winner will be selected. Good Luck!Labels: electrical, inside, lights, recessed lights
