How Do I Ensure Warm Energy-Saving Replacements for Incandescants?

last year

I have about 45 incandescents in the can lights in my home. I'm told that the power company in Illinois will come to my house and replace the incandescent bulbs with energy-saving bulbs, BUT...I don't want my home to look cold like a factory or schoolroom. What 'grade' of warmth do I want to avoid that 'blue' light? (Is there a numbered gradation for this?) The bulbs need to function with dimmer switches. I'd also like to replace the 'fittings' so that there's not a lot of dark 'space' around and over the bulbs within the fixtures. Thank you!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

Gizmo
last year
What shape of bulbs are you using now?

I've found if an LED is labeled warm or daylight, it's more like the incandescent bulbs we're used to.

This is a useful guide

https://www.westinghouselighting.com/color-temperature.aspx
arcy_gw
last year
??? You need the power company to come screw in light bulbs???? There are just as many types and colors of LED as there was of incandescent. It's all on the labels.
Related Discussions
Energy saving bulbs
Q
Comments (4)
It sounds like you bought compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. Yes, they really do use less wattage than regular (incandescent) bulbs, because they don't waste so much electricity as heat (like incandescent bulbs do). You may be perceiving two key differences in the bulbs. First is "color temperature", which will make the light appear yellowish or bluish. That can alter how you perceive the quality of the light. Second is that some CFLs take a couple of minute to warm up to full brightness. If you're just switching the bulbs on for a few minutes to check how much light there is, you may not be letting the CFLs get as bright as they would a few minutes after that. CFLs should last way longer than incandescent lights. And even if you end up replacing a 75-watt incandescent with a 100-watt-equivalent CFL (23 watts), you're still using only one-third of the energy. It's not a scam. And, yes, they're safe. In fact, I use CFLs in some fixtures because I can get more light out of them. Why limit myself to 40 incandescent watts when I can get 100 fluorescent watts out of a fixture if I need them at only half the incandescent wattage? :-)
...See More
Energy Saving? Lightbulbs
Q
Comments (21)
I was just at a local grocery store and the 15w CFLs were $2.99 for a 3 pack. Finding them shouldn't be a problem. When a CFL burns out, most larger places take them and recycle them. Menard's, Home Depot, Lowe's all recycle them and a number of other places like hardware stores and such take them. Just drop them off when you go there. Course some people think it's too much of an invasion to recycle something. And that really annoys me. It never ceases to amaze me how people get so paranoid when they WANT to be afraid of something. The amount of mercury in a CFL is so little when you check it out. A coal fired power plant puts more mercury into the air in one day than all the mercury in all the CFLs. So geez people... Pick your battles. LEDs will likely be the next generation in energy efficiency. I hope it happens soon. There's another significant savings but some people will still say a few dollars is insignificant to them. And then people will scream about the bluish tint they put off and how they "can't stand" the light from them. They'll be proudly going to their pole barn filled with Y2k duct tape, bottled water and incandescent light bulbs to keep the g-men from telling them what kind of bulbs to use. I'd like to do a poll sometime. See how many of the people who refuse to use CFLs use front load washers "to save money". I think that could be interesting. People are strange. They get a burr in their bonnet over the thought of a light bulb being regulated, yet having the feds listen to phone calls or reading emails doesn't seem to bother anyone. It's amazing.
...See More
Replacing Refrigerators to Save Energy
Q
Comments (17)
Assuming your existing fridge is in good working order and there are not other good reasons to replace it, for example it's too small, then the only reason to replace it would be to save money. In other words, it would be a financial investment. However, comparing it against other investments makes it look rather minimal. Taking Cynic's example, for the mid-range fridge it takes 5-6 years to pay for itself. However, you don't quite have your money back yet, you're still missing the cost of the fridge - something which you would still have if you had kept the old one. It will take another 5-6 years to have your original investment back again. In 10-12 years you may have saved $1000, but it cost you $500 up front, thus it takes that long to break even. Unfortunately, in the 10-12 years your original investment was tied up in that fridge, it hasn't earned any interest at all, so in fact you have lost money. Worse still, taking in to account the quality of many modern appliances, you may need another new fridge soon too. Depending on events, it's looking like you may never break even on the fridge investment, let alone see significant returns from it. Even a bad savings account would be far ahead at this point, having had around a decade to accumulate interest.
...See More
how much does replacing windows save in energy costs?
Q
Comments (21)
Hey G!! sorry to hear about your knee..but glad you are on the mend. I think we got your summer...it was a hot one, but I prefer heat to cold, last winter...was pure hell for me. I've always been allergic, but like wasp stings the poison ivy reaction seems to get worse as I age. I swear all I have to do is look at it wrong..and it includes sumac, poison oak & just about every thing with leaves of three & red stems. being a yardie (new to me term for yard junkie) and living in the woods fighting these things is a neverending job. I must have gotten hold of some roots in one of the flower beds. and with our crazy weather last winter...I even got it in feburary. so whats the deal with the roof? doing a cool roof or something complex? or just having trouble with weather cooperating? sounds like you have perfect weather to get it done this weekend...just be careful up there! do you still have those wonderfully explained igu windows 101 posts from the building forum? I'd like to share them on another forum...maybe in general discussion part of the site as other areas are locked to the publc. I'd really like to get them into the building science forum...but its only for pro members...you wouldn't have an epa card by any chance?? anyway let me know. and again...great to hear from you. take care.
...See More
wdccruise
last year
LEDs with color temperature 2700K are warmest and therefore closest to incandescent.

"The bulbs need to function with dimmer switches."

If the dimmer is old, it is likely that the dimmer is incompatible with LED bulbs.

"I'd also like to replace the 'fittings' so that there's not a lot of dark 'space' around and over the bulbs within the fixtures"
1. Post a picture of the light.
2. What's the diameter of the housing aka "can"? Measure with trim removed.
3. What type of bulb is in the light?
chisue
Original Author
last year
Thank you. My apologies for not checking for replies earlier.

Knowing I need 2700 K is a help. I can't get up on a ladder to measure the can size. It's whatever was 'popular' in 2001. The bulbs are floods and there's more than an inch of dark 'halo' around them that I find objectionable. I have been able to dim LED's in sconces with dimmer switches; some bulbs say they are dimmable, some don't.

Replacing fittings and bulbs on 45 fixtures isn't cheap, arcy, even if Elderly Me could stand on a ladder to reach our 9-to-16-foot ceilings -- without fainting from compressing the back of my neck while doing it.
wdccruise
last year
"I can't get up on a ladder to measure the can size."

If you can't provide details regarding the lights then people here can't help.
cawaps
last year
Color temperature (warm vs. cool) is measured in Kelvin (K). As Wdccruise noted, 2700K is warm white. There actually are warmer color temperatures, but they are definitely more of a novelty yellow, not for general service. Incandescents categorized as "soft white" range between 2700 and 3000K. Lamps in the range of 3000-4000 are considered a pretty neutral white. Color temps of 5000-6000 are closer to daylight. Since humans are conditioned to expect light to be warmer later in the day (first with sunset and then light from candles, fire, and eventually incandescent lights), daylight color temperatures can feel pretty unnatural in the evening.

The other thing to look for in LEDs is color rendering index (CRI). This measures how well a lamp reveals true colors compared to natural light on a scale of 1 to 100. 80 and above is acceptable for general service for most people; 90+ is better but the difference may be lost on people who aren't sensitive to such things.

LEDs save something like 90% compared to incandescents, and you get even more savings on lamp replacements because LEDs last many times longer than incandescents. The lifetime advantage is huge when you have high ceilings and can't easily change your own light bulbs.

The thing about a utility program is that you might not get a choice in the color temperature or CRI. My guess is they offer something broadly appealing to people accustomed to incandescents, so probably 2700-3000K. ComEd's website (not sure who your power company is but it looks like Ameren offers a similar program) says they install Energy Star light bulbs, and Energy Star requires a CRI of at least 80. You can ask before they install.

Good luck, I think you will be very happy with the change!

How Do I Ensure Warm Energy-Saving Replacements for Incandescants?

Comments (6)

Gizmo

arcy_gw

Related Discussions

wdccruise

chisue
Original Author

wdccruise

cawaps

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

How Do I Ensure *Warm* Energy-Saving Replacements for Incandescants?

Comments (6)

Gizmo

arcy_gw

Related Discussions

wdccruise

chisueOriginal Author

wdccruise

cawaps

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

How Do I Ensure Warm Energy-Saving Replacements for Incandescants?

chisue
Original Author