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Electricity Prices

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I honestly think a big piece of this is everyone switching to CFL bulbs lately. When I did my entire house, my monthly electric bill fell by 15% compared to the previous year. It has been consistently so every month. I will likely loose that advantage now that the Tesla is here, but now there are fewer gasoline expenses on my credit card. So I think the overall energy savings are still worthwhile.

If about 1/3 of American households are switching to CFL bulbs, which is entirely plausible, that number adds up quickly and could explain this new trend.
 
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^ I don't know why it's taking so long for people to switch to CFLs. A lot of people are still using incandescent lights. CFLs produce similar lighting and cost as little as a dollar a piece while using 1/4 the energy, making it a real no-brainer. My house has been on CFLs for years.
 
I converted a lot of my regular light switches to dimmers several years ago. CFLs are not compatible with dimmers, so that may be holding up some people from converting. I switched out the lights that I can. Then again, I know a lot of people that just don't care.

Since the CFLs last longer, they are really great in places that are a hassle to change, such as the outside light fixture next to the front door.

I swapped my dining room chandelier out with LED lights, even more efficient than CFLs, and last even longer.
 
I bought a dimmable GU10 CFL from Megaman and I have to say, I am very disappointed in it. While it dims, it goes nowhere near as low as it needs to to be useful. Furthermore, unless you turn it on with full power and leave it for a few seconds, it will not start properly and just flickers like a normal fluorescent that is failing.

I asked the manufacturer of my non-dimming LED GU10s if they had plans for dimmable ones and they said that they were in the pipeline for the end of the year.
 
Dimmable Liquid Cooled LED Candle

NEW - fully dimmable using existing systems, these contemporary LED lamps really break the mould with creative thinking! Instead of using a metal heat sink to control the heat, we use a liquid. Why not watch the video on YouTube here

liquid_ledlighter_300px.png



4w LED Power Ball Bulb, Glass, Liquid cooled, Globe Shape, Cool White Light, Pearl Finish, Dimmable

liquid_led_frosted.jpg
 
Same bulb - US version

HydraLux-4 is First Liquid Cooled LED Lightbulb - Tom's Hardware

The Eternaleds HydraLux-4 comes in two colors, Warm White and Daylight White, and can be ordered directly from Eternaleds.com at a list price of $34.99. It's an expensive investment, but it's rated for 35,000 hours; and at 8 hours a day, the HydraLux-4 costs around $1.75 per year to run, saving an average of $157.00 over the lifetime of the bulb in electricity and bulb replacement costs.

Eternaleds plans to announce 8W, 12W and 16W versions of the HydraLux by the end of 2009.
 
The HydraLux-4 comes in 2 colors:
Warm White - Gives soft room filling light and ambiance
Daylight White - Great for task lighting and promoting alertness.
Aqualux-Dining-Room.jpg


I don't trust these fanciful descriptions or images. Why can't they just give us the color temperature?

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This would be good fodder for the LED lighting thread.
 
Not to derail the great thread about LEDs, but getting back to energy prices...
Energy prices are down because industrial use is way way down, residential use is pretty flat. Its hard to infer residential conservation from the numbers. The best explanation for industrial use being down is the recession.

In the trailing 9 months of data residential electricity use is down 1% and commercial electricity use is down 2% and industrial electricity use is down 13%

Source:
Electric Power Monthly - Retail Sales of Electricity to Ultimate Customers: Total by End-Use Sector