That’s been discussed and you have to remember that some (most? a lot?) of that heat isn’t really heating you. Since it’s being generated right at the ceiling it’s going right up into the attic. Also, keep in mind, right above the fixture is a hole in the drywall with direct access to the attic, or at least the joist bays if it’s not the top floor. There’s a reason heaters are near the floor.
Yes, I’ll give you that they do heat the room, but no where near as efficiently as an actual room heater. Not even as efficiently as a light bulb that was down lower, like a floor or table lamp. Lamps heating the room is not a good reason to keep IBs. Put a bulb in your fixtures that doesn’t throw heat into your attic and heat your house in a more conventional manner.
Also keep in mine that any excess heat you create in summer has to be removed by your air conditioner.
One last thing, any extra heat put into your attic during the winter months can create ice damning on your roof and mildew in your attic.
I have a mix. I was gradually replacing the incandescents that were in place when I moved in with CFLs. Now I’ve shifted to replacing both with LED bulbs, which I prefer.
We have mostly all CFL bulbs, because we predominantly have can lights which are kind of a pain to change, and CFLs last longer than incandescent bulbs.
For entryways we have LED bulbs though, because they really are instant-on, and I don’t like coming into the house in the dark and having it very dimly light up.
The only incandescents we have are 4 halogen bulbs in a ceiling fan that rarely get used, and the floodlights on the back porch that also rarely get used.
We use all halogen incandescents which are close enough to the “real” thing for me and still street legal. The CFL spiral bulbs I’ve tried suck and then there’s the disposal aspect – my wife was opposed to my plan of “throw it in the garbage and not give a shit”. Haven’t played with LED bulbs much since the halogen incandescents are filling my need.
Mostly CFLs here too. I’ve got LEDs for my reading lamps and an unknown number of IBs.
I’ve got multiple LED nightlights throughout the house. I’m eager to add more LEDs once the prices come down, I really like their light better than CFL.
I’ve been looking for decent looking and priced LED under-cabinet lights for quite some time. I’m due to look again.
I’m not hording IBs, but I’ve got quite a few of them.
I’ve got a pretty big box of 100Ws, because every light in the house was 100W when I moved in. The previous owner must have gotten them for free from work…
I’ve got quite a few lower watt IBs because I had to buy boxes of 4 for ea size I needed…
All CFL. LEDs seem like they are still a bit expensive and novelty. I don’t see any point in incandescents, they burn out way too quickly. I’ve never had to change a CFL except through accidental breakage.
Still have all IBs. Will probably switch straight to LED’s at some point. I can’t stand the flickering of CFL’s as they power up…will avoid them completely.
My apartment is rather dark, away from the windows so I have two CFLs that stay on for whatever hours I’m up (18 hours a day or so), and two that are never turned off. I have a couple of reading lamps, turned on only for that purpose, and I prefer IBs in those.
I have all traditional incandescents, plus a closetful of hoarded ones for future use.
I might have been more open-minded about switching to a newer technology, but when the government stepped in and told us that they know better than we do, I got pissed off enough to become obstinate about it. I’m not a triple-Taurus for nothing.
Personally I’m all for anything that helps us take better care of the environment so I’m all for using CFLs and now LEDs although I wish all the recommendations for LEDs had come out before I went to Costco and bought a bunch of CFLs!
One thing I saw a few weeks ago in the paper (yes, I still read one), though: if the light in question is one that isn’t used much there probably isn’t much point in switching it over to a CFL or an LED until you have no choice in the matter.
I’ve switched to CFLs and LEDs as I replaced them, except for the 3-way-bulbs we use. I do have some incandescent that I’m using up. At this point, I plan to slowly move to LEDs; they cost less in the long run (longer life and less power). I really can’t see any difference in the quality of light, either.
I hate fluorescent lights, compact or otherwise. I’m normally pretty eco-conscious, but I couldn’t stand those stupid things. I was all set to be a hoarder of incandescents, when LEDs started becoming bright enough and cheap enough to be used. I love LEDs. All the benefits of a CFL, none of the drawbacks. They’re still kinda expensive, but they last practically forever, so it will even out in the end. I’m gradually replacing my remaining incandescents with them as they burn out.
Well said. <applaud> I too have a closet hoard of incandescent bulbs that will last for several years.
My obstinate streak woke up because of the heavy handed interference in the market. Maybe LED is a better choice. Maybe it will save consumers money on energy bills. If LED is a better solution then eventually incandescent sales would have declined. That’s the beauty of a free market system. We don’t need gov interference to implement new and better technology. So for the next few years I will choose to use incandescents.
1 - went from IC (incandescent) to CF (basically 100%)
2 - A CF burnt out, and only has a IC left, so back it went
3 - Cried out ‘I can see - I can see again!!!’
4 - removed almost all CF and replaced them with fomerally removed IC. (Sparingly uiseing CF’s in non-issue stuff to use them up)
5 - Got some halogens, work for me as good at IC, but since I like clear bulbs, not as aesthetically pleasing but OK, light quality just as good IMHO.
6 - Bought some LED’s, Ok so far minor flicker, still evaluating
Since Halogens are still a option, I see no reason for hording, for me they are as good as IC’s. CF’s no-just-no. LED’s hold promise but need anti-flicker work.
Hi, Ellen. I followed the instructions, so I thought- but was never presented with the Polling Info page to fill out. Ahhh well. The thread is making sense anyway. Thanks !
A few specific fixtures flicker annoyingly on the LEDs or burn 'em out. Gotta make sure to pay attention to the temperature (color spectrum) as I got some that were more daylight and they don’t mix well witht he other fixtures.