It pays to conserve electricity.

[DADoES]

 
Power consumption instantaneously varies depending on how the screen is being utilized.  Each pixel has red, blue, and green phosphor elements, which are energized together in varying intensities to create the range of visual color.  Black takes the least power, all phosphors idle.  White takes the most power, all phosphors lit.  Any given, instantaneous picture is a combination of pixels generating an array of colors at range of brightness.  Maximum power consumption would be a full, white screen.

I put a Kill-a-Watt meter on my 42" plasma a few mins ago for a look-see.  It's 10 years old as of 9/28/2012, so likely is less "efficient" than the latest units, although there may not be all that much improvement over the years being as plasma display technology is what it is.  The label on the unit does not reference wattage, but does state 120v, 5.0 amps, which would be the maximum, which is 600 watts, which would only occur on a full-white screen at maximum brightness.

It's not a good idea to set the brightness/contrast at maximum.  Makes for an unnatural picture and "wears" the phosphors faster.

Monitoring the meter for a few minutes on a typical local ABC News broadcast, the lowest was about 187 watts, with a spike to 325.  Average hangs between about 200 and 275, which is equivalent to 2 to 3-1/4 100-watt light bulbs.

A larger screen would of course pull accordingly more power.

Yes, they generate some heat ... I suppose equivalent to a CRT of the same size.  Plasma IS a form of CRT technology.  Instead of a single focused electron beam firing at and moving across the screen from a fixed point, each pixel contains three miniature electron "beams" that fire directly inside the pixel.

 

[qsd-dan]

I guess I have the same aversion that my parents and grandparents have/had to throwing away something that is perfectly good. This is what prevents me from throwing out my incandescent bulbs. We have quite a supply of them, and will just use them up and then gradually replace them with cfl's.

Yeah, I'm the same exact way. Hell, I'm probably the only one left in California that exclusively uses a CRT TV, lol. Just use the incans in bathroom fixtures or other fixtures that get low long term use. CFL's don't like being turned on/off for short periods of time. I was actually putting the rest of my CFL stash in the bathrooms to kill them off in a hurry, lol. I just HATE the quality of light they put out!

I've been phasing in Phillips Endura LED 60 watt equivalent bulbs in areas where I prefer warm light (family room, living room). Consumer Reports rated them very high and reviews on the internet have reflected the same. They put out lots of light (over 800 lumens) while using a scant 12.5 watts. They also can be used with a dimmer.

 

[combo52]

Energy Saving

Some notes

 

Plasma TVs and even LED screens use far more power than an equivalent size CRT TVs if the CRT TV in question has a solid-state chassis, if you go back to all vacuum tube style TVs then it gets a lot closer to the current sets.

 

LED and CLF bulbs both use about the same amount of power and put off about the same amount of waste heat.

 

CFLs will probably be around for a long time, they are probably about the 2nd greatest invention next to the original light bulb itself.

 

LED bulbs do offer some great advantages and will get much more popular over the next decade.

They usually dim able, they are mercury free, they have a longer life and they do not break if handled roughly or dropped.

 

The use it up wear it out philosophy has long been a practice of mine, but it probably makes little sense to burn 300 pounds of coal just to save a 60 watt incandescent light bulb. Like wise it makes no sense to keep using an electric clothes dryer if your home has natural gas service, sell it or give your dryer to someone that does not have this option. Take a cue from the US government or big businesses neither would ever waste energy in this manor in this day in age.

 

 

 

[cadman]

Warning: Rant Ahead!

When I was a kid, my first major collection was light bulbs (don't laugh!). There were so many different styles, bases, vintages, applications, etc and most were available on a kid's allowance. How cool to power up a real Edison-Mazda lamp and experience living history when you're in 6th grade!

Then one day CFL's arrived. At first there was only one on store shelves, the Philips Earth Light. It was a monstrous affair and cost over $20 a bulb back in the mid 90's. The light output was lousy, the temp operating range, even worse, but it was billed as lasting over 20 years, and this thing was really built. If you were willing to spend that much money on a lightbulb you expected some quality.

Since that day the light quality has gotten much better, warm up times have been reduced, but the lamps themselves are total junk. But what do you expect when you're trying to compete with an incandescent lamp that costs pennies to manufacture? Open one up sometime- the absolute cheapest electronic components slapped together with barely enough solder to keep the parts in place. Parts counts have been slashed each year in order to reduce cost, but at the expense of safety, longetivity and radio interference suppression. Not only do you have a switching power supply running in each of these lamps, but the low-V parts require rectification and voltage drop, and a decent design will also have components monitoring initial current draw during tube 'firing', steady-current regulation to maintain brightness, thermal protection, switching supply isolation from mains, perhaps ferrites for RFI and the parts necessary to handle end of life use (igniting and maintaining output). A lot of this stuff gets cut to save cost, especially on the cheaper Chinese units. Yes, I realize these lamps save on the energy bill, but at what cost? Too much radiated RF hash, too much money to China, and needless complexity for a light bulb.

 

[cadman]

PS...

For those that still have a soft spot for incandescents, you can still buy American Made. The ones available at our local big box store are Sylvania, made in St. Mary's, PA. I buy 'em on sale, 4 for $1. And the longetivity is most impressive!

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/made-america-mission-us-air-force/story?id=13430426

 

[sudsmaster]

I routinely dry bed sheets, spreads, etc. on the line. I think they come out better that way than in the dryer.

Used to dry bath towels on the line as well, but got tired of the stiffness they'd acquire.

My dryer is gas and I haven't noticed a big hit in the gas portion of the electric bill by dropping the line drying of the bath towels.

The Neptune spins them pretty dry anyway.

Time of use might not get me much... I don't have A/C, and the biggest loads are probably ones that have to run 7x24 anyway: the fridges (2) and chest freezer (1), plus a koi pond pump (the fish would die if it shut off and on again).

 

[petek]

Believe me I've tried lots of different ones over the years, more losers than winners and the purported longevity is questionable however I'm having better luck with the newer ones. In fact the Meijer house brand 60 & 70 watt equivalents in a pack of 6 for $3.99 are very good so far and if one blows I won't be cursing as much under my breath. Our dining-room chandelier takes 6 x 60 watts and I need 6 more just to light up the living-room fully so that's a lot of power saved, especially in the winter when it's dark so early. I just wish those LED's would hurry up and get cheaper so I can use them on the outdoor lights.

 

[danemodsandy]

Cory:

I hear you about the hinky electronics and offshore manufacture of CFLs.

However, much of 21st-Century life is boiling down to trying to find the least objectionable choice in the marketplace, not the best choice. I would personally love to be able to purchase a high-quality CFL or LED choice made in America.

And once China falls apart economically - as it will - I hope I will have that opportunity. Until then, my choice is, feed China a little, or feed Mid-American Energy a lot.

It stinks, but those are the times in which we live.

 

[twintubdexter]

just be glad...

...you don't live here, at least right now. On Monday Edison's electric rates changed from summer, about 46 kilowatts at baseline, to winter rates, about 9.6 kilowatts at baseline. It was 111 degrees on Monday, 108 Tuesday and a "cooler" 105 today. I'm sure my 2 central air conditioners already drank up the baseline juice allotment.

 

[sudsmaster]

I've had good results with the FEIT 75 watt equivalent daylight bulbs. Costco periodically has them on state instant rebates, so they wind up costing less than $1 per bulb. FEIT used to make relatively crappy CFL's, but now they are pretty good. I also like their 100 watt equiv warm white bulbs - which are more compact (thinner tubes) than past ones and give good light.

As for LED's, yes they are instant on and work better in cold temps, but they often are not any more energy efficient than CFL's. I use several in my fridges and freezers, where they work great. Also for a living room lamp on a timer, and the porch light. Low lumens but for these applications it doesn't matter.

I've also had good results with Fluorex 300 watt equiv outdoor flood lights. I even have them hooked up to motion detectors. They give great light and fire up very rapidly. As I recall, they use 65 watts, each, but generally I have them on only a short time (unless I need the light to work on stuff in the courtyard at night).

 

[jamiel]

Now pete, you're cheating. Those bulbs are supposed to stay in the DTE service area.

 

[petek]

Jamie.. you ought to stop by here one of these days, it aint that far. just follow 94 east for about an hour, you'll need 3 bucks for the bridge both ways and either a passport, Nexus or enhanced drivers license

 

[cadman]

I hear ya Sandy! In my "marketplace", a little goes to China. A lot goes to the second hand shops ; )

Twintub, you're right, it'd be a different story if I were in PS. This time of year every light I turn on is one notch less on the thermostat. Between the decent rates we have in this area, and my thrifty '51 Coldspot that costs only $1.75 a month to run, I don't mind too much!

 

[jerrod6]

twintubdexter

Just curious.  Do you know what your relative humidity was during the 105F day?

 

[mrb627]

IKEA

Ikea was on the news this evening and announced that they have begun phasing out incandescent bulbs and CFL'S would be gone by 2014. They will carry only LED,s from there on out. So if you like the CFL bulbs, plan on stocking up in the next year or so.

Malcolm

 

[twintubdexter]

Jerrod...

The relative humidity has been about 8%...kinda dry huh? Maybe I shouldn't complain. In the 10 years I've lived here this has been the very worst summer...constantly high temperatures, unusual humidity from Baja and the Gulf and worse, the smell of dead fish from the decaying Salton Sea...about 60 miles away.

dead talipia on the Salton Sea...got tartar sauce?

 

[lordkenmore]

I've been more or less satisfied with the CFL bulbs I've used. The only ones I've hated are the really cheap ones. One put out a huge amount of RF interference.

Although for me the energy savings are not a huge deal most of the year. I have electric forced air heat, so waste heat from a light bulb is just a little less load on the furnace.

 

[lordkenmore]

In my "marketplace", a little goes to China. A lot g

Sounds like my marketplace! The less I buy new these days, the happier I am!

 

[washer111]

Plasma TV Burn Risk

Ours certainly DOESN'T produce enough heat to burn someone, but it still makes a nice heater, thats for sure!

And Re the IKEA lamps - their CFL's are pretty useless. They don't emit nearly enough light and were too yellow in the ones we had. I switched mine to another Mini-Spiral in the Cool Blue (Cool Daylight) spectrum. Far better.

 

[jerrod6]

twintubdexter

Yeah your humidity is kinda really low.  I asked because there are two kinds of heat gains.  One is sensible and the other is latent.  If your humidity is high the AC must remove this humdiity(latent) before it can even touch the actual temperature(sensible).  So in high humidity areas the AC must run longer because it first has to deal with the latent heat and after that it can begin to lower sensible heat.

 

It is kind of like the heat index we hear about in weather forecasts.  I have a weather station and right now the outside temperature is 76.5F with a relative humidity of 85%.  This makes the heat index or feel like temp 80F.  If this condition existed inside my house and I set my t-stat to  74  down from 76,  my AC would first have to run to remove the humidity(latent heat) to get the heat index air temp down to the 76F (the latent heat), then it would continue to run to lower the temperature to 74.  The more humidity to deal with the longer and harder the AC has to work, the higher the electric bill, unless you have  low rates. 

 

 

 

 

 

[jerrod6]

I touched mine today

I touched my plasma TV today for the first time.  No it doesn't give off enough heat to burn an adult, but I don't know what it might do to some 7 month old kid.  I think the warning was overblown, but nevertheless there is a lot of heat escaping from the screen.

 

Agree the Ikea CFL  bulbs -  not good.  I used other CFLs and Halogens and now am using Philips brand  LEDs, so I will wait to see how the Ikea LEDs perform.  Thing is that as the availability of  LEDs increases the cost will go down which is a good thing.

 

[polkanut]

Well, we did it again!!!  We received a 2nd month of free gas & electricity from WPS (WI Public Service).  Our total usage amount was $79.11-6.75 (air cond. control credit)=72.36.  Our new monthly budget amount has been adjusted from $142 down to $127.00.  Because the current charges fell under the budget amount, we have a $13.13cr which gives us another month of free electric & gas.  YEE-HAW!!!

 

[passatdoc]

@washer111

Agree, and I rarely use IKEA brand any longer, but ten years ago their bulbs--when on sale--broke the $5 barrier and were far more economical than the $5+ bulbs offered for sale elsewhere. Eventually, the power companies in our area began to subsidise CFS bulb prices at hardware stores and price began to drop, but the only store where I could have switched the entire home over to CFS for $120 (at that time) was IKEA, and only during their special one week sale.

The only IKEA bulbs I buy now are those with the miniature "candelabra" sockets, which are difficult to find in hardware stores. Although I still use incandescent "candle tip" bulbs in the dining room light fixture, the exterior of the home has a number of light fixtures using two of the miniature sockets each. Most of the miniature bulbs are unattractively coiled (these are light fixtures with clear glass sides, so you can see the bulbs), but IKEA offers one that looks like a ping pong ball (an opaque glass enclosure around the coils) which is less unsightly. In addition, on the hall entry table I have a small Tiffany-style lamp with miniature socket and the only bulb that fits is the IKEA "ping pong" model. Otherwise, like you, I use soft whites for normal lamps inside the home.

 

[passatdoc]

question about LEDs

The only LEDs I own are several IKEA task lamps with a built-in LED (not sure if it can be changed if it wears out). Do they make LEDs that fit into standard lamp sockets, i.e. ones that can be swapped for existing incandescants or CFLs?? And if so, what is the cost?

 

[davey7]

Ya'll are gonna hate me, my electric bill from ComEd (Commonwealth Edison) averages $16 or so, outside of the two ac months when it's like $40. Of course, since I live in an apartment building, I don't pay directly for cooking gas, laundry, hot water heating or heat (all gas). It dropped when I got rid of the groovy Westinghouse fridge which couldn't keep the ice cream hard or milk cool anymore, despite it's avocado interior. But my hi-fi has a hard-off switch and I keep the dvd/crt tv on a power strip and the laptop unplugged, so there are no vampires charging or sucking power and I don't use my dishwasher often either.

Passat Doc - yes, you can get replacement LED's, especially for spot lights, i.e. can lights, etc.

I remember my parents got an early CFL from their electric company in the mid-80's and used it in the basement for a number of years, it was nice looking, with a domed cylinder housing, but it wasn't very bright and had limited usage in that format, i.e. too heavy for a table or floor lamp.

I always love those HOA's which don't allow laundry, fences or vegetable gardens because they look "low rent" or something.

I'll have to post a picture of the bulbs in my living room fixtures (sort of lightoliers with five standard base candelabra bulbs which have some kind of geometric pattern on them - could they be from the 20's? The lights are hardly used, so it wouldn't surprise me). But just for fun, here are some nifty led's I saw this weekend in a brand spanking new concert hall.