I just changed every light bulb inside&outside of my house to cfl's. Will I see a big decrease in my bill?

Question

I went from 2000 watts incandesent to 400 watts cfl. Should it make a noticeable difference on a monthly basis, or would it be more like on a yearly basis?

Answer 1

you are charged by the kilowatts used per hour, so now you are paying for 1/2 kilowatt instead of 2 kilowatts per hour, so now you are spending about 1 cent per hour per bulb, instead of 4 cents.

Answer 2

There will be some difference. Maybe not a huge difference for you personally (but since it's basically free money, why complain? And the bulbs last longer) but the cumulative effects of everyone changing could be significant. And since the price of energy is partially demand-driven, there's an indirect effect.

Also, since they produce little heat, they can help with summer cooling costs. I definitely noticed a difference in the summer with the heat that I used to feel sitting next to some of my lamps. And I know have much brighter light from those lamps that were limited to puny 40 watt bulbs.

A couple things you should know, though: first, not all CF bulbs should be used outside. And they aren't as bright (or as efficient) when they're cold. In winter in a cold room you'll notice that the light is kind of dim when you first switch it on. And of course there's that brief hesitation between when you flip the switch and when the light comes on. You get used to it pretty quick.

Answer 3

You're not going to save a lot. The big electric users are....

Water heater
Oven
Refrigerator
Electric heating, ventilation, air conditioning
Other appliances
In comparison to your other appliances, lights use little electricity.

Answer 4

lights are a small portion of your total electric bill, if your bill was 100 bucks and you use the lights in the same capacity, your bill may be around 5 dollars cheaper. these bulbs pay for themselves in one year from the reduced usage.
good for you!

Answer 5

seeing the electric company is raising rates again....even though you will save some money the increases will make it look like nothing...and yes it does help a bit on your bill....especially if you used them a lot

Answer 6

Cut down on heat, curling irons, stoves, clothes dryers, hot water etc. to see a substantial saving.

Answer 7

depends on how much you burn lights,

We changed all of our lights in our three bed room home ( excpt kitchen drop light whch has speical bulbs.

We noticed a drop of a few dollars over all, not something that jumped at you.

Answer 8

you will only see about a couple of dollars a month at the most, your biggest energy expenses are heating and cooling

Answer 9

not a huge difference, unless you turn on every light all the time.