Cree LED bulbs are helping me use less electricity each month #sponsored

Each month my electric company (Duke Energy) sends me an energy report to let me know how my electricity usage compares to similar homes in my area. Ever since they began sending these reports, my house has always been shown to use more electricity, which translates into paying higher bills. Even after switching most of the light bulbs in my home from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, I didn’t notice a big difference in my power consumption. Then I signed on with Cree to help promote their LED bulbs. They sent me a few bulbs to test and I liked them so much that I have been buying additional bulbs for all my fixtures. I’m finally beginning to see some positive changes in my power consumption which has me motivated to completely convert over to LED bulbs.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

Here are the Cree LED bulbs that I’ve been using in my home. I’ve used the BR30 bulb on the left for the can lights in my basement and I’m using the 4Flow bulbs on the right for everything else. Both bulbs look like traditional bulbs and fit in all the same light fixtures, but they use significantly less electricity while providing more than ample light.

My latest Cree LED bulb switching project has been the hanging light fixture in my the main level of my house. We don’t use this light much during the week, but on the weekend mornings, it’s turned on from 8 am – noon when we’re eating breakfast and web surfing while sitting on the couch. This is the way the fixture looked before I switched the bulbs.

As you can see, three of the incandescent bulbs were burnt out. Yes, we’ve been too lazy to drag in a step ladder to change out the dead bulbs. But it’s time to get unlazy.

I removed all the bulbs, washed the glass light shades and dusted the fixture.

Then I reassembled everything with five new Cree LED soft white 4Flow bulbs. A quick flip of the light switch and wow, what a difference. Obviously five bulbs are going to be brighter than only two bulbs, but each Cree 4Flow bulb puts out more light than a traditional 60W incandescent bulb and only uses 11W.

4Flow bulbs are made with shatterproof plastic, are mercury free, dimmable and are rated for up to 25,000 hours compared to just 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb. Although these LED bulbs are more expensive than traditional incandescent or even CFL bulbs, they use 85% less energy and will save you money on your electric bill for months and years to come. I’m already seeing this happen for me. My next project is my office, otherwise known as Gadgeteer HQ, which currently has a mixture of LED and CFL bulbs.

CREE bulbs can be found at Home Depot. Prices vary depending on bulb type, but the soft white 4Flow replacement bulbs are about $7.97 each.

Source: The samples for this article were provided by Cree. Please visit their site for more info or shop Home Depot for Cree bulbs.