Many things going into the new house are exciting (to us) but aren't really flashy. Just the same, these things are important and require lots of research and planning. As we looked into building a truly green house we quickly discovered that it was expensive. Any energy savings we might realise over the long haul would be offset by the sometimes very expensive upfront costs. A green house is not a short term game by any means.
We opted for potlights just about everywhere through the house, many more than the average. Janis and I both wear glasses and our eyes are not what they used to be. We would use LED lightbulbs to provide the light and bring down our energy bills in the process. We will also make our house a hybrid smart house. All of the rooms will have sensors to turn out the lights when no one is in the room. The primary living area of the house will be also be programable and remote controllable (from our ipads, smart phones or computer) as well.
It used to be that you could grab a pack of light bulbs off the shelf as you walked by in the hardware or grocery store, confident they would work just fine. Now the choices are many, and the specifications on the labels new and confusing to say the least. There's cool light, daylight and warm light kinds of bulbs. What used to be a 75 watt bulb now only uses 13 watts, with the brightness measured in LUMENS. Some LED's are dimmable while others are not. Some hum as well. And of course there are flood lights and spots, with some being suitable for potlight applications and some not. Who would have thought that picking out a light bulb could be so complicated?
Over the last months we've been testing various LED bulbs and watching the prices carefully. They have been slowly coming down in price as they become more popular and as more manufacturers come on board. In our province the government recently outlawed many incandescent bulbs which changed the game dramatically. And just this month our electricity company offered significant but limited time instant grants (at the cash register) to bring the LED's down in price by one third more. With the power now on in our new house and the shorter days upon us it was finally time to buy.
It is going to take a while to unpack and screw in all these lightbulbs!
-grampa dan