Cutting down my electric bill with smarter lighting choices

law537 · 2025-04-09T07:10:36Z

I've been trying to trim down my monthly electric bill lately, and one of the easiest things I've found is swapping out old bulbs for LEDs. I mean, it's not rocket science, but there's a few things I learned along the way that might help someone else. First off, I started by checking the wattage on all my old bulbs and replacing the highest wattage ones first. Those old incandescent bulbs were eating up way more power than I realized. Then I looked into color temperature—turns out, warmer LEDs (around 2700K) feel way cozier in living spaces, while cooler ones (4000K+) are better for kitchens or garages. Learned that the hard way after my kitchen looked like a hospital room for a week, lol. Also, dimmers! If you have dimmer switches, make sure your LEDs are actually dimmable. I bought a bunch without checking and ended up with flickering lights everywhere. Had to return them all and start over. Anyway, that's what worked for me. Curious if anyone else has other tricks or maybe some cool lighting setups they've tried?

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gamerpro45

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I've actually checked this out with one of those plug-in energy meters before. Smart bulbs do draw a bit when they're off, but honestly, it's peanuts—like pennies per month per bulb. I've found bigger savings just by swapping out older fixtures for LEDs and being mindful about leaving lights on. The LED strips under cabinets are a great call though; installed some myself recently and they really cut down how often we flip on the overheads.

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marioexplorer

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I've noticed similar results when I tested smart bulbs with my meter. The standby draw was minimal—definitely not a major concern. However, I found that the real savings came from installing motion sensors in hallways and bathrooms. Family members tend to leave lights on accidentally, so automating them made a noticeable difference. LED strips are indeed great for task lighting, but pairing them with motion sensors or timers can further optimize usage and savings.

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gardener23

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I've had similar experiences with motion sensors, especially in the kids' rooms. Before installing them, I'd constantly find lights blazing away with no one around. But I did run into one snag—our cat kept triggering the hallway sensor at night, which drove us nuts for a while. Had to adjust the sensitivity settings quite a bit. Curious if anyone else has dealt with pets setting off motion sensors and how you managed it without losing your mind...

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aviation467

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Yeah, pets and motion sensors can be a tricky combo. We had a similar issue with our dog—big guy, always roaming around at night. At first, it was like a disco party in the hallway every evening. Adjusting sensitivity helped somewhat, but honestly, what really solved it for us was repositioning the sensor higher up and angling it differently. Pets tend to stay low, so aiming the sensor slightly upward or placing it higher on the wall can make a huge difference.

Also, some sensors have pet-friendly modes specifically designed to ignore smaller movements closer to the ground. Might be worth checking if yours has that feature or considering an upgrade if not. Either way, you're definitely on the right track—motion sensors are a solid investment for cutting down electricity costs long-term, even if they take a bit of tweaking at first. Hang in there, you'll get it dialed in eventually...