Disclaimer : This is a sponsored post brought to you by ACE Hardware. All opinions are 100% my own.
Have you ever read the title to a blog post and thought “Yeah, there is no way I am gonna buy this.”? And then you kept reading and by the end of the post, you were hunting for your debit card?
No? Well, your day has come my friends. We are gonna be talking today about the very glamorous and interesting topic of lightbulbs.
Yes. I know.
Hopefully by the end of this little chat, you will see what I now see….the light at the end of the tunnel per se. (That ridiculous joke was brought to you curtesy of my sleep deprived brain).
So long story short, Ace Hardware came to us and wanted to work together on a post about light bulbs….more specifically LED light bulbs. I was all like “um, could a subject be less interesting?” and then Jeremy forced me to get on a conference call with Lou Manfredini (that’s a legit name right there) who is their Home Expert. By the end of the call, I was a believer. I learned that those bulbs that looked like ice cream cones are not LED light bulbs and that basically I am throwing money into the wind with my current light bulb situation. If you are still buying regular incandescent bulbs, you are doing the same thing. Now I am back and am ready to present to you, my friends, why you should definitely consider this new technology.
REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD SWITCH TO LED LIGHT BULBS
LEDs LAST LONGER
Regular bulbs have an average rated life of 1000 hours. LEDS have an average rated life of 25,000 hours. (!!!!)
That means you have to change the regular bulb in a normal room at least 25 times before you would have to change an LED light bulb. Lou put it this way….imagine you changed the light bulb in your newborn’s nursery to an LED bulb….you use that bulb a normal amount…..the same bulb would be there when your baby graduates COLLEGE…even if they squeeze four years into five 🙂
And because these bulbs last longer, they save you money for replacements. A regular incandescent bulb costs about $1. An LED bulb is $8 or less. You spend a little extra up front but it saves you SO much more in the long run.
NO MORE LADDERS
Let’s face it….ladders are not the safest thing in the world. Jeremy and I are both afraid of heights and if you factor in the statistics on ladder-related-injuries, that fear doesn’t diminish. For our house, we have high ceilings and changing to longer-lasting light bulbs means less changing the lights means less ladders. It’s not rocket science. It’s less time, less work, less worry.
REDUCE THE CHANCE OF INJURY
Real life story. This past week, I was in the laundry room trying to remove the existing light bulb while standing on our kitchen stool. The stool tipped. I fell and landed not so gracefully onto the stool, a laundry basket and the floor. Now I have a giant bruise on my tailbone and one broken stool that is no longer sold by Crate & Barrel. I tried to get a picture of the bruise but my crack kept on getting in the photo and frankly….you’ll thank me later for not showing you. The point is….falls happen. And if you can reduce the chance of them, injury to yourself or breaking your beloved-no-longer-sold-online-or-in-stores-items, you would right?! And let’s face it….broken things (body parts or home goods) cost money. I don’t like getting hurt….but it only adds insult to injury when you have to pay for x-rays, doctor’s appointments and new stools.
REDUCE THE WASTE OF ENERGY
Normal lightbulbs are a huge waste of energy. The US Department of Energy put out this great article about comparing energy costs. READ IT HERE.
Basically, a normal lightbulb uses a lot of energy to produce HEAT and all of that is wasted! We want the light! But with an LED bulb, the heat is minimal (to the point of me holding my hand on a LED light bulb and it not burning) and all that money that is saved! That’s right….for the same amount of light produced, an incandescent light bulb uses 60W of energy whereas the LED uses 9.5 watts….which translates into $552 energy savings (84%) over 25,000 hours! FROM ONE BULB.
Did you hear that?
BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE
I get that there are huge savings over the course of YEARS and most of us aren’t very patient people to wait to see all that money stay in our bank account. I also get that there is a big sticker shock when you walk into a store and see a regular bulb priced at $1 and an LED bulb at $7.50. We are trained to go for that cheaper bulb. But I am attempting to re-train the brain and ACE Hardware is trying their best to help out. This weekend, they have a promotion going on for Buy Two, Get One Free! of equal or lesser value on all their Feit LED bulbs. There is no limit on the number of bulbs you can purchase and they are only while supplies last in stores. Hopefully that can help when it comes to this big cost upfront and make that leap a little easier.
The folks at ACE asked us to switch out the five most used rooms in our house when it came to lighting. We have TONS of light bulbs in our house. I guess with bigger rooms, taller ceilings, and lots of lighting needs comes more light bulbs and we totally took on the five-room challenge. We decided to change out the back hallway (five bulbs), the exterior bulbs (10+ bulbs), the living room (20+ bulbs), the master bathroom (9 bulbs) and the big boys room (5 bulbs).
The outdoor lights are super simple. It also gave me a chance to clean those lanterns. And we switched out the bulbs at our street too. We always said that it would be great to put them on a timer for evening lighting but it was really cost prohibitive before. Now I don’t feel bad at all about flipping that switch!
Oh and you might be wondering what I did about the dark parts for the front porch bulbs….I just used a paint pen to make the bottoms dark. Easy peasy!
Next was the hallway light….the new one we just installed….well, this one is really important to keep on in the evening because it leads to our playroom. The boys are CONSTANTLY running this hall….back and forth and it’s what wears them out at night. We can keep the light on so that they can find (and put away their toys) and I still can do my “put-aways” (aka…put away the laundry, the shoes, the jackets, etc.)
The room I was most excited about was the living room. We were literally down to five bulbs on our chandelier. That is how much we hate changing the lights. We literally would live in darkness so that we don’t have to climb a ladder. But we switched those to warm chandelier bulbs and now the room is SO much brighter and more happy.
The boys room was next and honestly the thing that stood out to me the most was the look of the new bulbs. The new ones don’t have that ugly printing on the bottom. I like that clean look. And Jeremy said that he thought they were much better lighting wise. He liked the warm white color and said that it made him feel like he could see better.
The last room we tackled was our master bathroom. We have two vanity switches…one on Jeremy’s side and one on mine….and when they are both on, nine bulbs are turned on. NINE! That’s a ton of light. And we sometimes forget to turn them off. It’s a terrible habit and we are trying hard to break it….but until we do, it’s good to know that it won’t cost us an arm and a leg.
So are you convinced? Are you gonna give the LEDs a try? Are you ready to take the plunge with me? Maybe all that money we save, we could go on a cruise together! That would be fun! A little light at the end of our lighting tunnel 🙂 Maybe we could get Lou to be the cruise director 🙂 So who is with me on this new bulb journey? Did I convince you to go a little bulb shopping this coming weekend? I am just excited that I don’t have to intercept little hands trying to touch the hot bulbs anymore! Talk about a game changer!
We’ve been switching our house over to LEDs as things go out…just so it doesn’t hurt so much. But we did our kitchen all at once a few years ago and those bulbs (recessed flood) were $20 a piece! Whoa! But it costs us next to nothing to have them on so it was all worth it. Also be sure to save your receipt I know some have a 5 year warranty!
Ok, you had me at paint-penning (sure it’s a verb) the bottom. Is that allowed!? Because that’s awesome.
I have a question on the specific LEDS you tried. Do they have the slow delay in turning on that some LEDS do? Or they brighten slowly so they aren’t at their full brightness right away? We find that with the LEDS we’ve tried so far, but we haven’t tried this brand from ACE.
I’m slowly switching to LED due to the cost so I may just need to visit Ace this weekend.
What’s amazing is the “light” it gives off. It is such a pure light. It’s not that yellowish/orangish light.
I am going to email you a picture a took in our master bath with my side with LED and his side with incandescent. It’s crazy different!
You’ve convinced me. My husband has been wanting to change over to LED’s for a while, we just haven’t bought them yet. Like you we also have high ceilings and our foyer light has several burned out bulbs because we don’t want to change those either. I’ll have to show my hubby this post and see it that will give him the jump start he needs to buy those bulbs. Thanks for the info.
When we built our house 2 years ago, we were going to put LED bulbs in the entire thing, but we quickly realized that it would cost us $100’s of dollars to do upfront and since we were already putting so much money into the house we decided to hold off and just use CFL’s until they burnt out and we would slowly replace them with LED. We do have a few in our pendants in the kitchen and love them!
I love our LED bulbs, but we’ve been switching them out when an old one goes. The LED bulbs we have are SO bright and some of our light fixtures have multiple bulbs, so it’s funny to see one glaring bulb against other softer bulbs.
Why do you paint the bottom of the light bulbs? Is this a trick I’m missing?!?!?!
So if the spiral ice cream looking lights are not LED’s, what are they?
This looks fantastic! Look how much more light your chandelier has! I’m confused about the porch lighting though – what’s the reason for painting the bulbs?
I know you are making money on these sponsored posts, but maybe limit them to once a week! It seems like every day is one. I miss your old posts about real life.
You should have taken some pictures at night with the lights on. I’d like to see the difference between the two.
We have been switching out bulbs in our house with LEDs and our utilities bill has reduced by more than a 1/3. Our local utilities also reimburses for about half the cost of the bulb if it has an energy star rating as part of a government energy savings program. Be sure to check with your area to see if they do something similar. It made switching them out a no brainer for us and we did more rooms at once than we would have done otherwise.
It took me a bit to figure out why you painted the bottom of your porch light bulbs black: because unlike a filament bulb the LED “bulb” is partly masked by the technology, resulting in a white cap over the base of the “bulb.” The aesthetics of the LED bulb, despite having more compact technology than compact fluorescent, is still clunkier than the simplicity of the filament. In my house, we have a mixed of CFLs, LEDs, and incandescents. I would consider switching to all LEDs except on my dining room chandelier, which unlike yours, is at eye level and I want a more bespoke look than the clunky LED can deliver (#badenvironmentalist). So, when are the product designers going to produce an alternative to the old Edison that is energy efficient AND beautiful in its simplicity?
Hi Katie,
Thanks for your post on LED bulbs…this is a long comment but please stick with it! We strive for saving energy (stereotypical californians…) and have lots of LEDs. However, I’ve run into a problem that no company can help me with yet, and I wonder if your consultant (or readers-hi, other readers) had any insight. LEDs (and CFLs for that matter) use substantially less power to produce the same amount of light – that’s the whole point of switching anyway. But, lamps/fixtures come with drivers which I guess determine how much power gets to the bulb when the switch is on or off and many of them have to use enough to keep the old energy hogging incandescent bulbs lit, which is much more than the LEDs use. So, problem one is that sometimes the driver audibly hums when the light is on, which doesn’t happen if the incandescent bulb is loaded. Also, we just changed our porch light to one of those cool, new Edison-style LED bulbs, and the bulb stays ever so slightly lit when the switch is off (the LED uses so little power that the “off” setting is still enough to keep it lit)! Did you have any of these issues? While we still save tons of energy this way and I’d switch anyway, this is annoying, and I would love if companies can post information about whether lamp fixtures are designed with LED in mind – most companies don’t even know what I’m talking about when I ask. So, if we really want to change to LED bulbs, the LED companies should make friends with lighting companies. [PS I actually studied the materials behind LED bulbs during grad school, and my husband used to work at an LED company :). ] Thanks!
I would love to switch my most-used lights to LED but so far, everything I’ve tried has been too big to fit inside the fixtures. For example, in my kitchen ceiling fixtures, I’m currently using the smallest mini CFLs (100 watt equivalent) so please do share if you know of similar sized LEDs.
How do you feel about the light that it puts off? I like warm light, not the cold white/blue light I associate with LED. I guess that has been one of my biggest hold-ups…that I will spend so much money and hate them 🙁
I completely understanding replacing burnt out light bulbs with new LED bulbs, but to replace bulbs that are still functioning seems to be a waste of resources.
I don’t notice it being blue but I know what you mean. I got the warm white color (there are different colors so the package matters) if that helps.
xo kb
You mean the base is small or the bulb itself? I think the LEDs come in options to replace the regular bulbs so there are lots of sizes available.
xo kb
According to Lou the technology is changing all the time. He said that within a few years that the tech part of the base will be hidden! Cool right?
xo kb
LEDs don’t have a delay…that is CFL bulbs (the ones that swirl like an ice cream cone). These LEDs don’t have any delay and they are dimmable and they are harder to break and have a three year guarantee if they fail 🙂
xo kb
Just because the base is dark and the white stood out more 🙂
xo kb
Those are CFL (compact fluorescent lamps). Basically they are better than regular bulbs but they have Mercury which is bad for exposure and harder to dispose of.
xo kb
You can definitely choose to do whatever you like – I am in the camp of making your own decisions! It might be smart to switch out five rooms but leave the others 🙂
xo kb
They make two types, like Katie says. One of the recent improvements over the last couple years is the ability to make the LED light warmer. The mixture of materials actually emitting the light has improved to avoid the previous disproportionate amount of blue light.
I thought that LED lightbulbs aren’t supposed to be touched by hand? That it makes them burn out quicker – that they’re supposed to be held on that plastic base only. No?
I use regular bulbs in our lamps because we broke a CFL bulb once when a lamp got knocked over. It was bad. We have 3 small kids and things can get crazy (I know you understand). Are LEDs a problem if they break? (Besides the broken glass and all). I also wish I could blame the broke CFL bulb on kid craziness, but no. That was an adult of course. 🙂
Oh I hear you…the kids are always around when something breaks. And no, LED’s are not as much of a problem if they break…in fact, they are more difficult to break too (I dropped one today from 8 feet high onto tile and it didn’t break if that gives you any idea). It is recommended to still wear gloves while cleaning up the bulb!
xo – kb
Okay, I never expected to see Lou Manfredini’s name on a blog I read! Small world. He does segments on the local news all of the time. So funny to read his name here.
We are about 50% LED. May have to kick it up a notch now though..
We’ve been switching over to LED’s and have found they produce so much more light that we have to install dimmer switches in the rooms we put them in. Not a terrible thing and gives us the ability to provide more ambience but was a surprise at how much light they actually put off!
I wasn’t told that but I will look into it.
xo – kb
I googled it and it sounds like a compatibility issue. Here is a forum that discussed this issue! Hope this helps!
xo – kb
Thanks Kat for the input…in fact, it’s such a great idea, I already do that! I limit the number to average one per week. In fact, I have only done 31 sponsored posts this year and we are in week 42. So be on the lookout for 11 extra ones coming soon (JUST KIDDING!). I will try to do better at spacing them out but it is hard with scheduling at times 🙂 Feel free to skip them as I try my hardest to be very upfront and clear with the disclaimer right at the very top.
xo – kb
Just to make the white blend in a little better!
xo – kb
Great tip!
xo – kb
Oh I did! I should have posted those! The difference was no light (before) compared to lots of light (after).
xo – kb
So, since they last so long, should we just wait for the new technology before we buy? lol :~P
Thanks for the post. Lou Manfredini is a regular on the 4th hour of the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda. They always do a song “Lou Manfredini. He has a name that rhymes with…..(and then they pick something that rhymes that isn’t weinie (like linguini). Ha, ha. He is great.
LED for the win!
It’s my understanding that LED bulbs cannot be used in enclosed light fixtures (such as those awesome boob lights that line my hallway). Do you know if the Ace Hardware bulbs can be used? Also, I thought I heard that they shouldn’t be used upside down or sideways. Any truth to that?
That all sounds like weird rumors. Nothing on the box and no part of our conversation with Lou indicated that but I would definitely ask the ACE people.
xo – kb
That’s totally up to you! If you go by the chart in this website and do the math, in year one LED’s cost per bulb roughly $9.30 ($8 for the bulb and $1.30 in energy)….incandescents cost per bulb roughly $8.82 ($1 for the bulb and $7.82 in energy)….so in two years these LED bulbs pay for themselves. So you could literally buy new bulbs now and in two years, invest again 🙂 But like I said…totally up to you!
xo – kb
Great to hear they are making smaller versions these days! I will check again. My fixtures are sort of a square version of a flush mount, 2-bulb boob light and the LEDs I’ve tried have the correct base but the bulb part is too big to fit 2 of them inside the frosted glass enclosure. Going with just one bulb per fixture doesn’t give enough light.
I saw that on another blog posting re: LED bulbs and forgot it by the time I installed them. 30 seconds later, bulbs shattered. Expensive lesson. I removed the boob covers, replaced the bulbs, and everything has been fine. These fixtures are sideways, too. I would definitely check when you buy.
Thanks!! Looks like in one case I have a bad switch (which is irritating because it was installed last year…grr). I’ll post back here if I figure out the humming issue.
I think you’re thinking of halogens. In short, those get really hot and your finger prints mess up specialized glass. Someone explains why here: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=7031.0
You can safely use an LED in any direction, but some LED bulbs are specialized to be more directional (like a spotlight) than others – the package should say. Just for fun, the technology is very similar to a solar cell, but instead of light in, electricity out, an LED takes electricity in and puts light out. I think the reason you heard not to keep it in an enclosed light fixture is because LED bulbs do still have heat sinks (they do not waste anywhere close to the amount from incandescent bulbs, but that little bit of heat is enough to adversely affect the small volume of active materials). Technology is continuing to improve such that more bulbs are completely interchangeable but for now, the package or online description should say if that bulb is appropriate for a boob light…. and we can always change out our other incandescent and CFL bulbs, then put the extra CFL bulbs in the boob lights where we can’t see them. 🙂
If you are talking about energy resources (coal, wind, gas, solar etc), it is 4.8 times more efficient to run an LED than an incandescent bulb. http://energy.gov/energysaver/how-energy-efficient-light-bulbs-compare-traditional-incandescents However, you are correct that the functional incandescent bulb represents a small amount of metal and glass which will be heading to a landfill early. If your incandescent bulb happens to be powered exclusively by wind power which would otherwise not be utilized, then perhaps the bulb is better off running. But, most of us probably have non-renewable energy sources powering our bulbs most of (if not all of) the time, we are then stuck doing a calculation between the energy cost of disposing that bulb early and the 4.8x energy use for the remainder of its life. This question is hard to answer universally because of garbage practices in different areas, the unknown lifetime of the bulb etc. etc. While the metal and glass isn’t fantastic for decomposition, it’s also not particularly toxic like a CFL. But, maybe an easier way to view it is: the LED lifetime is ~15 years, the incandescent is ~1-2 (~1000 hours by the link above). So, the old bulb will likely end up in the garbage within a year anyway and that year is a small fraction of it’s life in the trash. You might as well save the dirty energy in the meantime or as soon as you find a sale on LED bulbs!
Was looking at Aces website, is there a big difference between the 2 pack of LEDs for $10 and the one bulb for $8? Just wondering which is preferable and if I could get away with the 2 pack.
Can you give me links?
xo – kb
You sold me. We went to Ace yesterday and purchased 6 boxes of the flood lights and changed out all the recessed lights in our kitchen and mudroom. These lights tend to get left on a lot so changing them out is a no brainer! Thanks so much. Ace should be proud of your partnership!
Hooray! I just convinced my father-in-law this morning 🙂 I can’t wait to go on this cruise with you 🙂
xo – kb
Just wanted to type that you are not supposed to dispose of LED or CFL lights in your garbage or (most) recycling bins. In my area we have to bring them to a special drop off location for recycling. Here is why:
CFLS
Today, CFLs are in over 70 percent of U.S. homes. But because they contain a small amount of mercury, disposal can be a little tricky.
CFLs are perfectly safe as long as they stay intact. However, if you toss them in the garbage, they’ll probably break before they even reach the landfill, immediately jeopardizing the health of waste management workers and eventually poisoning nearby land or water sources.
When your CFL’s time is up, it’s essential that you find an Environmental Protection Agency-approved CFL recycling site. If a CFL breaks in your home, follow these steps:
Put on protective clothing, gloves, and a mask to shield yourself from the dust.
Collect all the broken bits into an airtight container using a damp paper towel.
Turn off all central air and fans for 15 minutes.
Take the light bulb to a recycling site.
LEDS
You don’t have to worry about mercury with LEDs, but they do contain nickel, some lead, and even trace amounts of arsenic. When used properly, these lights are risk-free, but they have significant health hazards when they’re left in a landfill.
More than 95 percent of an LED bulb is recyclable; simply call your local waste management company to learn its policies for collecting and recycling. The recycling process will separate the glass from the other elements, all of which will eventually be recycled and reused.
Great info! Thanks for sharing Maureen.
xo – kb
Katie, maybe you can check out this question with Lou Manfredini. Ace now has their own brand of LED non-dimmable 60W-equivalent bulbs. Which company manufactures them for Ace? Feit or another company? Yo0u may not have heard about “dirty electricity”, the high-frequency gradients that some bulbs add to the normal house electrical current; it can cause health problems over time. http://healthybuildingscience.com/2013/09/10/emi-and-leds-not-all-leds-are-the-same is one place to begin researching this topic. This is NOT a hoax, it’s for real. Each brand adds a different amount of dirty electricity to the line; so far, CREE (Home Depot) appears to be best, but I’d like to check out the new Ace brand. Hope you can get a specific answer for me.
Thanks for the link…you might need to contact them directly. I am no expert on this topic and I’m sure I wouldn’t even be able to follow.
xo – kb