portcity_gt Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 .....and it almost cost me a whole six bucks more than November! Damn light display costing so much money!Gotta love leds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 And that is why I walk right past the minis - even at closeout under a buck. They would have to tape a $10 bill to each box before I 'd go back. (Well, tape it on & we'll see...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Gawd, I would LOVE to have a $108 electric bill! Too much crap that's on all the time. And too many people living here that don't understand turning things off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 I installed a new a/c (heatpump) last year that dropped my electric bills by about $100 a month, its been awesome.It will now hit a max of around $160 in 100° Louisiana summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Man the last time my hydro bill was that low was when I was on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sticks4legs Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 What was your increased consumption?Need to compare apples to apples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) What was your increased consumption?Need to compare apples to apples.Its on the bill.No lights in November = $102Lights in December = $108 Edited December 29, 2014 by portcity_gt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 If you're asking for kwh, i dont remember id have to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan24438 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 All LED's here as well. November bill was 126, December bill 138. I was very surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) I have a mix of incans, incan floods, and LEDs - but a small display. Tonight I put a clamp ammeter (on sale for $35 at Radio Shack right now, down from $60+!) on the main 3 controllers (the other one only runs 4 LED strands, so I didn't bother). On one of my "busier" songs, it pulls an average of 4A. With all the lights on, it's 8A total draw. For comparison purposes, I have a floor fan that draws 2A on high - so this isn't drawing much at all. Based on some quick calculations, it looks like it costs me about $10/month (rounded up and including the amp and FM transmitter) to run the light show for 4 hours per night with a small (LED animation only) show on for another 4 hours. The electric is the cheapest part of the whole thing! Next year, I plan to go largely RGB, which will likely knock it down even more, since they will be replacing incan features. Edited December 29, 2014 by jtomason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sticks4legs Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) If you're asking for kwh, i dont remember id have to look.Yes, increase in consumption in KW/h . Comparing cost doesn't do much as local rates, rebates and competition fees are different. A $6 increase for you could be $20 increase for others. Edited December 29, 2014 by sticks4legs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Yes, increase in consumption in KW/h . Comparing cost doesn't do much as local rates, rebates and competition fees are different. A $6 increase for you could be $20 increase for others.I dont care how much other people's bills go up lol.If i remember ill look at the kw tonight, but theres so many variables ie room lights,tv, heatpump, a/c (yep i have to use heat and a/c nov/dec, louisiana weather).But ill try to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KStatefan Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I dont care how much other people's bills go up lol.If i remember ill look at the kw tonight, but theres so many variables ie room lights,tv, heatpump, a/c (yep i have to use heat and a/c nov/dec, louisiana weather).But ill try to check. Unless your lights draw a large part of you consumption there are to many variables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Messer Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) For the month and half we run and test it runs around 600 bucks. I have a mix of it all in the show. Brother in law tells me how much and I pay what he says. Edited December 31, 2014 by Jeff Messer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I just got my electric bill and it was $150 higher than normal but I am still WAY ahead of the game. Lets explore the mini lights vs LED's just a little and I'm sure somebody will set me straight if I am all washed up. My display has over 100,000 primarily mini lights. I purchased them all for around $2 per 100box from Lowes. That means I have invested $2,000.00 in my mini's. But lets do a little more math. (1000 boxes x 100lights/box = 100,000lights or 1,000boxes x $2/box = $2,000.00) To purchase 100,000 LED's at 70LED's per box = 1,428 boxes. (70 per box is what I purchased LED's the day after Christmas at Big Lots at about $4.00/box) If I got lucky and bought them all for $4/box (normally $9.99/box) I would have paid $4,998.00 to get my 100,000 lights. If you continue the math and subtract the $2,000 I paid for my mini's from the $4,998 I would have to pay for LED's, it means I would have paid $2,998 MORE for LED's than mini's. My electricity bill is about $150 more than normal for the entire season so that means to realize a savings using LED's I would have to run my show for 19.98 yrs (seasons) before the LED's would pay for themselves. Don't get me wrong, I like LED's for everything other than cost's which has to include PURCHASING them and you must include the purchasing cost in the conversation. Somebody please tell me where my math/logic is wrong/flawed. kevinkolak.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 It's not flawed imo. Some people will also tell you to add the cost of all the electric upgrades you did to support the incans... but if you are like me those costs aren't too bad because I did all the work myself so there is no labor.I have no problem with LEDs except when people act like they are the 2nd coming. BTW, I'm still running tens of thousands of incandescent lights I purchased for 50 cents a box 7 years ago... I guess I'd have to run them LEDs for 50 years to breakeven! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 My halloween show was still 100% incandecent with 2 cfl floods, my Christmas display was maybe 50/50. Then only time I buy LED's are usually 75% off at Walmart, figure you can't go wrong for $1 a box. Now I honestly am starting to think that the real place to save Is going to be in RGB. For example it seems cheaper to build mini trees with rgb, you can use one controller to say control 8 mini trees and get any color you want. A set of 50ct rgb in the presale right now is about $16, if you wanted to go red, white, blue, green mini trees in LED that's probably 4 times the price in lights plus how much in AC controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigecooper Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I think the biggest plus for me with LED mini (cheap biglots $10/120 lights) is the reliability. 3 years never lost a light and the paint stays on the red bulbs. Mine are all zip tied to conduit so it's important. Sidebar, high efficiency furnace and heat pump savings will power my LOR habit for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 ???If you are into saving money then maybe don't get into this hobby every year it costs me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiplorenzo Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 +1 on the last comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts