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.
