I have been through energy efficiency hell this past year. My heat pump went last winter, and my wife did not tell me because we have a standing order in this household that I don't see bills. She couldn't ascertain that a 250 a month electric bill going to 800 plus might have something to do with our equipment. PPL certainly did. (Pennsylvania Power and Light). We went from a approx. 250 monthly "plan" to an 850 one- this without my knowledge until I mentioned something about the packages arriving daily from Zulily- a kid's/wife kinda place my wife seems to live on. She even lied about it, initially, told me it was 599- the elec bill- don't ask me- I'm not female- The friggin' Ups FedEx and postal service guys were apologizing to me on a first-name basis, lol

ANYWAY, it took me like 1 second once informed to figure out my heat pump went south, so, new heat pump, new air handler, new humidifier, new de-humidifier, new air-scrubber later-- 10K

New water heater-I don't remember, approx. 600 bucks

New washer and dryer (VERY impressive, btw- ask me about the latest technology, remember, I'm drinking buddies with ALL the experts at home depot, and YES, we have them- you just gotta find 'em8-[ ) 1400 bucks Old ones were 4 years old, tough call, but old ones not "CE", new ones are--- very SMART decision, in retrospect...

New casement window- thought it would be 2500 - dodged as my wife found a co that builds custom "gassed" windows 300 bucks

New fridge 1200

New garage fridge and freezer 800

Now I'm doing light bulbs. Transitioning from incandescents to LEDS. We skipped CFL's, as my wife hated the color of the lights, in all configurations... soft, cool and bright.

You want the long story or the short one?

I'll start with the short one. PPL (again, elec co) is subsidizing the replacement of other bulbs with LED's in my state. They do this through the retail outlets that sell the things. Obviously, that would include the Home Depot. I get a 4 pack of 60 watt equivalents for 14.97 . They do not stay in stock. Cree (brand name) PPL does the same with the 40 watt equivalents, but no where near the demand.

If you see a similar price in your Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, etc etc -- scarf 'em up. They are being subsidized by your utility and would have otherwise cost you 3 times as much. The light is true to what you are used to. They last up to 22 years, give off no heat, and use 1/5th (conservatively-energy savings-wise) as an incandescent.

You will see what I speak of when you look at the prices of the rest of the LED bulbs. Unfortunately, in my home, my whack-bird wife has gazillions of candelabra-type light fixtures throughout--- It would cost me a small fortune to replace them presently, as they are not subsidized by the utility.

Last month's electrical actual usage: $162.00 , baby. Bill: $803.64 - as I'm on the "budget plan", lol- as set last winter by my awesome wife that doesn't burden me with bills and shit 😢 It WAS about the 1st thing I had to deal with in the last 12 years, so, she gets a complete pass. [grin1]

Caution with the lights. It is not true they do not give all heat, they do. They just give it off through the back end of the bulbs where the electronics for the LEDs are. You can touch the face of the bulb, but don't try to grab the back if it has been on. You will shorten the life of both CFL and LEDs if you use them in fixtures where they are positioned upside down and there is not venting for the heat they create to escape.

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Don't get me going on subsidies.

Just don't.

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I was thinking of moving fro m those sqiggly ones to LEDs.
I priced them at the local Lowes and found I wouldn't live long enough to appreciate any savings on my electric bill.

I laid in a good supply of the cheap Old-fashioned kind before the idiot environmentalists outlawed them. That should last me 5-10 years or until the sane element goes back to letting the market determine what we can buy.

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Yes, you are right, I misspoke on the heat thing. They do give off heat, hence the heat sinks, but comparatively the least amount, in most cases, as it does depend upon the size/style bulb used.

I don't remember if I told you guys that a customer and I found a neat application for LED lights.

He's a bow-fisherman. He had been out on his buddies' boat the previous night. His buddy was using one of those halogen work-lights (12v) coupled to several marine batteries hooked up in parallel. The lights gave out around 3 am, and they had hoped to keep fishing until dawn.

He was looking at our work lights when I asked if I could help. He told me the above, plus said he was coming from next door at Gander mountain and was investigating his options. He has a single marine battery to run his trolling motor on his boat. We collectively came up with the idea of him using a twin LED worklight we sell, (120v- 2500 lumens) coupled to an inverter, coupled to his battery.

He came in the next day and told me it worked perfectly, all through the night, and that his buddy was making the switch also.