In this post, I will share information about LED lighting and ways I was able to save money by making the change. As your inspector, my goal is to share information with you that is helpful.  If you’re willing to read it, I want to make it worth your time.

Lighting with LEDs instantly improves your home since they last longer and are more energy-efficient.  LED bulbs are replacing incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.  Since the LED technology emerged, it has advanced faster than any other type of light bulb in history. As a result electricity consumption can be greatly reduced, benefiting the planet while reducing costs as well.

Lots of options

Recessed fluorescent light bulb yellowed from heat and oxidation reaction.

About 16 years ago during the construction of my home LED lighting was available, but wasn’t within our budget. I realized about a year ago that we had been replacing light bulbs here and there. Considering the variety of options and colors, we couldn’t agree on which type of light to buy so eventually, every room had a different amount of light, and some rooms even had multiple types of bulbs and light colors. In our house, we have a 22ft vaulted ceiling in the living room and 10ft ceilings in all other rooms, so changing recessed bulbs was difficult. Then my wife noticed that most of the beauty rings on our recessed lights had started to yellow, likely due to the heat generated by them.

While I didn’t start changing my lights for energy reasons, I remembered the saving on our electric bill after switching to LED Christmas lights. My wife and I discussed all of the options and we decided that the “daylight” color would best meet our needs. I replaced the recessed lighting in our kitchen and we were amazed by the improvement. We then converted all of our lights to LEDs and experienced a new level of brightness that we thought impossible.

You may be surprised

You may be surprised to learn that 4 LED bulbs consume the same amount of energy as one typical light bulb. An average standard light bulb lasts 1000 hours. An LED bulb lasts about 100000 hours, which is about 20 years. I don’t know about you, but to me, switching all of those hard-to-reach bulbs to LEDs made it all worthwhile. After changing all our lights to LED inside and out, our home feels brighter and more comfortable. I believe that we are saving energy, but with the major increase in our energy costs, I can’t say for sure, but it significantly less than it would have been.

LEDs 85% more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs and produce way less heat

New construction homes don’t usually come with LED lighting and older homes can be dark due to fewer and smaller windows. LED lighting is a great way to improve your home instantly. Your money will be well spent with this upgrade and it may also help shed light other improvements that may need your attention. If you have interest in hearing about a specific home improvement project or product, please feel free to reach out and I will try to provide you with the best insight I can.

Check out my previous articles & videos. At Winding River Home Inspection Services, we want to help protect your investment. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help!

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