F'in Recessed Lighting Rant....Help?

[tooqk4u22]

Recently moved into a new house, the former owners put recessed lighting in two rooms, which I feel is generally a nice touch but OMG how many bulbs do you need in a room - my electric bill is much higher than last place and I know it is mainly because of these.

The kitchen is 12x12 and I think there are 10 or 12 13 bulbs and the other room is about the same size and there are 8 bulbs..

Anyway, figured its best to replace them with LED lights....WTF $10/bulb.....and not even sure I can use them for recessed lighting....its going to cost me $200 to replace all these bulbs.

 
Modified to correct number of bulbs - stopped by home and counted....Lucky 13.

[StacheInAFlash]

I got LEDs for our recessed lights (around the same number as you) at Costco for $6 each ($12 2-packs). It definitely stung putting out that cash just to replace existing lights, but I think it was definitely worth it. What stung most was that I was replacing CFLs that I had just put in a year prior that I paid $100 bucks for! Those stupid CFLs took forever to warm up and just cast an ugly bluish light, so they had to go unfortunately.

[pdxvandal]

Do the LEDs work on dimmer switches?

[Fishindude]

I agree, the average new kitchen is overloaded with electrical; can lights, ceiling lights, under counter lights, stove top lights, chandelier, etc.

[GuitarStv]

Recessed lighting points straight down.  Because of this more bulbs are needed to evenly light an entire room than with a bare hanging bulb.  LED bulbs are very efficient, last forever, and work great as a replacement for power hungry bulbs.  You could always just unscrew bulbs that light up areas you don't need lit up too often as well.

[nereo]

This might not be nearly as costly as you first imagine. 
You have 2 rooms that take 18-20 bulbs.  Cheapest up-front option is 13watt CFLs for ~$1 each (total wattage 13*18 = 234 watts/hour).
If you leave all of them on for four hours per day (pretty substantial amount of use) that's just under 1kw.  In most areas that's 8-15¢ (ave 12¢). 
Your monthly electricity bill will be $3.60 for those 18 bulbs.

More efficient is to go with LEDs - $10 is a lot per bulb, i recently picked up some bulbs at HD for $3.99 each.  The longevity of the bulbs makes them the economical long-term choice over CFLs.  Out of pocket costs would be $72 with no replacement for a few decades.  Electricity usage would be ~$1.75/month for those 18 bulbs. 

as for "help" - I'd shop around for sales on LED bulbs and serially replace the bulbs whenever you find them on promo.  And stop worrying about the power consumption - just shut off the lights whenever you aren't in the room.

[tooqk4u22]

Recessed lighting points straight down.  Because of this more bulbs are needed to evenly light an entire room than with a bare hanging bulb.  LED bulbs are very efficient, last forever, and work great as a replacement for power hungry bulbs. 

Yeah, but not one per sf of space... it should be like one per 4 sf.

You could always just unscrew bulbs that light up areas you don't need lit up too often as well.

Good thought, but already tried that and annoyed DW who screwed them back in.

This might not be nearly as costly as you first imagine. 
You have 2 rooms that take 18-20 bulbs.  Cheapest up-front option is 13watt CFLs for ~$1 each (total wattage 13*18 = 234 watts/hour).
If you leave all of them on for four hours per day (pretty substantial amount of use) that's just under 1kw.  In most areas that's 8-15¢ (ave 12¢). 
Your monthly electricity bill will be $3.60 for those 18 bulbs.

More efficient is to go with LEDs - $10 is a lot per bulb, i recently picked up some bulbs at HD for $3.99 each.  The longevity of the bulbs makes them the economical long-term choice over CFLs.  Out of pocket costs would be $72 with no replacement for a few decades.  Electricity usage would be ~$1.75/month for those 18 bulbs.

I agree.  I think your cost numbers are for the basic CFL bulbs whereas the recessed lights use flood bulbs that are a bit more expensive.  Regardless I think the math is on the right track.  I found some LED ones at Home Depot that were $18 for a 3-pack so $6 each, which is better.  They are 10.5w  And my electricity rate is $0.18/kW (I am jealous of MMM's $0.09 in CO)

as for "help" - I'd shop around for sales on LED bulbs and serially replace the bulbs whenever you find them on promo.  And stop worrying about the power consumption - just shut off the lights whenever you aren't in the room.
[/quote]

i wish...but with DW and three small kids the kitchen gets a lot of time....easily 5 hours per day between morning and night (maybe more in the winter darker months) - there is always someone in there it seems.

But that makes the math even better - I calculated savings of $233 ((65w-10.5w) x 13bulbs x 5hours x 365)/1000 x $0.18.......otherwise said as a 4 month payback period....not to shabby. 

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

And my electricity rate is $0.18/kW (I am jealous of MMM's $0.09 in CO)

Damn! Are there not competitive electric plans where you live? Also, have you looked into the costs from a solar power purchase agreement from a company like SolarCity? They offered me $0.15/kWh fixed for the next 20 years, which didn't turn out to be worth it for me but it might be for you.

[zolotiyeruki]

Couldn't you just replace the bulbs with lower-wattage ones?  Replace a bunch of 75W incandescents with 40W-equivalent(11W real) CFLs?

[Axecleaver]

Consider putting in a few motion-activated switches, which will detect when someone is in the room and turn the lights off automatically after they leave. We used these in our kitchen because our family didn't bother to turn the lights off there (I'm not sure why, we're pretty good elsewhere) and that seemed to help a lot. The switches are about $20 and last forever. Takes a little while to dial in the sensitivity, but once you got it they are completely maintenance free.

[tooqk4u22]

Consider putting in a few motion-activated switches, which will detect when someone is in the room and turn the lights off automatically after they leave. We used these in our kitchen because our family didn't bother to turn the lights off there (I'm not sure why, we're pretty good elsewhere) and that seemed to help a lot. The switches are about $20 and last forever. Takes a little while to dial in the sensitivity, but once you got it they are completely maintenance free.

I have those in other areas and love those switches, but I have been completely unsuccessful in every attempted to install one on a 3-way circuit, which is what I have in the kitchen.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

You just have to buy the right switch for your circuit.