On Night Lights and the Butterfly Effect

So I've updated the tally this week to reflect the estimated energy savings that resulted from swapping out night lights with traditional incandescent bulbs to LEDs. Here's how the numbers were computed:

0.16 kWh/day (incandescents) - 0.012 kWh/day (LEDs)= 0.148 kWh/day difference
365 days/yr - 45 days lapsed thus far this year = 320 days remaining
320 days x 0.148 kWh/day = 47.36 kWh saved this year

If You Could Work About 90% Less, Would You?

After coming home with three new LED night lights, here's what I found:

The light from each was really quite comparable to that of the incandescent lights they replaced. And you've gotta love kids-- both of mine thought changing out the old lights was groovy. But the best part was that we got the performance at an energy premium. Each night light now draws 0.3 watts. So using the same calculations as before:

Can Light Emitting Diodes Spook a Monster?

Earlier this year, I lamented that LED light bulbs didn't quite cut it for replacing the incandescents in our bathroom. Still, I believed there might be some good applications for these highly efficient bulbs. I decided to give them another shot as a possible substitute for our current night lights.

The Winner, by Unanimous Decision, is...

After a prolonged time in the ring, here's how our little smackdown worked out:

The LED accent bulbs used only 2 watts of energy. Thus, using the same calculations from my earlier post, the whole fixture would consume only 4 kWh/yr, for a remarkable energy savings of 80 kWh/yr over  incandescent bulbs! Unfortunately, each of the accent bulbs only cranked out the advertised 50 lumens apiece, leaving our bathroom, shall we say, less than brilliant. In fairness to Sylvania, however, these are clearly marketed as accent bulbs-- LEDs intended to provide the equivalent output of incandescents are marketed under their "ULTRA" line. More on this in a second.

Time for an Energy-Sippin' SMACKDOWN!!

Tired of accidentally suffering burns from scalding incandescents? Put off by the unsightly, mercury-laden swirls of CFLs? Rejoice! A new option for residential lighting is hitting the streets-- Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)! I've noticed lately that LED bulbs are becoming more common in the market place, where they offer two big advantages to consumers. They can be far more efficient than CFLs, and the bulbs contain no mercury. But, as far as performance, I don't really know how they stack up against CFLs. So its time for some good old-fashioned sparring!!