re: Remember when they told us LED bulbs would last 20 years?

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Even if incandescent bulbs were free I would not use them. A 60 watt bulb used 2 hours per day costs $6.50/year to power (at 15 cents/kwh). If you have any bulbs that stay on all day or all night it would cost $40/year to run. And that is per bulb. Or $80/year if on 24/7. I don't think most people quite appreciate how much money LED bulbs save, probably because most of us just replaced them a handful at a time over the years. They save about 80%.

If you switch back to incandescent bulbs throughout your whole house right now, your power bill will be in the neighborhood of $100/month higher. I have 8 exterior flood lights that stay on all night every night. They were 120W bulbs that were costing about $600/year in electricity. I put in some "expensive" ($10/bulb) LEDs that are just as bright but only draw 14 watts. That $600/year now only costs about $100/year in electricity. I'm saving damn near $50/month just on exterior lighting.

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