I like the gift swap game. (That’s the game where you can open a gift or steel a gift that someone else has already opened). When I am looking for a gift for this game I try to pick a gift that I really like. If I am lucky I can leave with the same gift I came with. Last night I was lucky.
I had to bring a gift that a guy would like that was under $20. Normally I would head straight to Radio Shack or Best Buy, but since most of my friends aren’t as into techno junk as I am, I went to Home Depot. I looked at a stubby ratchet set, and some grilling paraphernalia, but I kept finding myself on the lighting isle. I was shocked at the price and variety of the LED bulbs. Just last year I would have been lucky to find one brand on the shelf and I wouldn’t be able to afford it. This year I found a 40-watt equivalent bulb in a warm white color for about $17. I bought it for the game and wound up winning it back.
LED bulbs could really change the way that we light everything. They are very efficient, they give off a great quality of light, they are dimmable, and they last a really long time. If the bulb I have last half as long as it is expected to, I will be retired before it needs to be replaced. Think of what will happen as the technology is perfected. I imagine my girls (currently 4 years old) moving into their first home as an adult and after replacing the lights with LEDs, never having to do it again.
For those of you that think that CFLs are a better choice, let me say that I would have agreed with you just a year ago. Since 2002 every time an incandescent bulb would go out, I would replace it with a CFL. Currently almost all of my interior bulbs are CFLs. Now, when they start to go out I will replace them with the LEDs. LEDs are not that much more efficient than the CFLs, but they light up instantly, I find the light to be a better quality, they have no mercury, they are dimmable, and they should last a really long time.
If you are thinking about changing your lighting from incandescent, consider skipping CFL’s and going straight to LEDs. A word of warning though, do your homework. Not all bulbs are the same quality. Look for bulbs that have a low wattage, the correct lumens (amount of light) you are currently using, and the same color. Some blubs give a deep orange light while others give an almost blue light. Most people prefer a color that is in the middle. You should expect it to take a few years to replace all your bulbs, unless you want to spend a lot all at once. As for me, one bulb replaced, about 55 to go.
