kiplorenzo Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Oh, I forgot to address your 10% comment....you have to read my post from a few days ago but it goes something like this...my mini's cost me $2,000.00 for 100,000 lights. The same number of LED's wold have cost me $5,000.00 on sale and I mean at rock bottom bargain prices (been there done that). That means I saved $3,000.00 by using mini's. My electric bill is $150 more than normal so divide $150 into the $3,000.00 and it means it would take 20yrs before the LED's actually started saving money but to get technical it would take longer because in that 20yrs the LED's cost me $600.00 to operate so 24yrs is more like it.I'll be more than willing to answer more questions if you have any! If you can show me where I am wrong in my calcultions I would greatly appreciate it.kevinkolak.comThere are 2 ways to look at all equations... On Either of the equations we will Pay either up front or in the back portion of the house: My House has been changed over inside and out to color Changing LED bulbs. (beyond the display) The bill went from 275.00 down to 135.00. Thats just standard screw in RGB LEDs with remotes. When the display was first built it was Incans. However 32 panels of incans was blowing the circuit. Yes I checked into more power... which I could get. I changed over to leds... Yes the initial investment was high, and 16 panels of Net lights X4. and of Course more controllers.The power bill was 135.00 for the month of December. My Show runs 11000 lights on 2 circuits with 1600 channels. I can still even add to the 2 circuits more lights with out blowing the circuits. The savings for me was not paying the electrician to put in more power.- Quoted:6500.00. LEDs use 1/10th the wattage of standard incans or standard household bulbs (not including CFL) . So here's my math equation:Take a standard 4 bulb fixture in a bathroom:Incandescent: 4X 40 watts Min (most of use 60 watts) 160 wattsLED: 4X8 Watts + 32watts So, using LED's One can see the difference in the costs. THe standard screw in bulbs are less expensive than our Christmas Strings. But I have found if you search around and order online, you can still save some money in the process and not go Bankrupt. Oh My Stars! I need to go buy more lights and controllers... LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Please give me the vendor's name that can provide me with LED's that are 2 times (or less) the cost of mini's and then we will talk about changing over. As I have stated throughout this discussion DO NOT CHANGE TO LED'S FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF REDUCING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL, you will be losing more money....lol. Everybody is giving the reason that they maxed out on available power. Nobody is stating that they switched to LED's because they are brighter or more colorful and perhaps more dependable all of which are true. I think everybody is trying to justify the expense of buying LED's by showing us (or maybe the wife) your electric bill savings.....LOL....I can do you one better. I built a 20' x 30' shed with 10' ceilings this past summer ...not to move the light display, wink wink, telling the wife it was to give her back the garage...she chuckled.BTW....I do appreciate everybody's participation in this discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 ...and to think i only started this thread because the most common question i get from people when they see or hear about all the lights is "wow id hate to see your electric bill" ....well it was $6 higher lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Look at all the fun we would have missed out on had you kept quiet....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa6058 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 For 20 days running show from 5:30pm-5am my bill is $49 so it would be $75 for 30 days. I'll stick with brighter, more colorful, more reliable, much more durable LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanZ Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Incandescent, LED, RGB. Do what you like. Personally, I made a massive switch to LED this past year, not only adding over 5,000 more lights but 48 more channels. Next year I may begin to incorporate some RGB lights. We'll see. Ultimately, the cost of powering Christmas this year versus last was either very similar or less. But how does one begin to factor in the smiles on peoples faces from what you have done? That is something which cannot be measured. Even in tearing everything down people were still saying how much they enjoyed what I had done. That makes it all worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I'm not totally incandescent and anti LED. I have over 1,000 C7's converted to LED's. All of my icicles are LED and I have outlined the roofline in both white and blue icicles. I did not do it to save power or make my electric bill smaller. I did it to make things brighter and give my display the ability to change colors. kevinkolak.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Archer I think you mean do not switch over to LED just to save money because in the short run it will cost you more.But if you want to cut your power bill then LED will save you money (after you pay bucket loads to buy the LEDs).I would have to pay $1000's to upgrade my power if I wanted to run incandescence lights.And I don't look at this as an investment (investment you expect to make a return on your money) but as a hobby, it cost what it cost (shoulder shrug). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Paul.....if you call 20 yrs a short run. I hate to sound like the Grinch here as I am all for LED's. What I am against is somebody THINKING they are ahead of the game ($) or they will be ahead of the game by switching or even starting with LED's. I have already shown in previous posts using my display as an example. Even though my display has over 100K lights the ratio is the same for everybody at any level. The decision to use LED's should be because you need to free up power in your box or you want brighter lights and not because you want lower bills thinking you are then ahead of the game. After you purchased the LED's it will take yrs and yrs to recoupe the purchase price by having lower electric bills. I think I have kicked this can down the road far enough. I sent my youngest son (I have 3) to one of the best private universities and he graduated with a degree in accounting and is now a CPA. He says "dad, you are spot on". BTW....I worked at Three Mile Island for 17 yrs including during the accident in 1979 (yes I'm old) and part of my display is me standing in the yard glowing....lol...just joking.I hope there is another topic soon that sparks my interest like this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 A human blow mold... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 "FOR ME" I save money.With LEDs my bill was $75 more last year (might be more or less this year because I don't have it yet).If I was using incandescent lights it would be $750 (one year it was that much) and I only have 1/5th the lights you have.In Canada and other parts of the WORLD could be paying a lot more for electricity .Making a blanket statement that LEDs will not save you money is not true for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I wonder how much my three neighbors bills went up.... Long slightly Buried Ext cords installed at night wasn't that hard to do... LOL Its Christmas.... don't be a penny pinching Grinch.... the elect company has Christmas bills to...lol seriously.... my bill went up only about 30 bucks over last years when I had no lights at all up. and I had up a small amount this year.... just around 22,000 minis.... not sure about the rope lights or candy canes.... mini or led... I didn't read the package. But I do use Elec heat for my house also plus tvs, and computers that are on 24/7 and outside ( 4 are Dusk till Dawn) security lights and cams ... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Like I said....I kicked the can down the road enough and I'm sure Canadians have heard the expression...."you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them use mini's when all the see are electric bills"....may the LED gods be with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Boyd Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) Even though I'm all RGB now, when I made the switch from incan to LED, it wasn't about electrical cost, or how much the light strings cost, it was about the look. I liked the crisp look of the LEDs. I also do NOT like the warm white look of the incans. LEDs gave me the colors I was looking for and the "POP" I was looking for. RGB gives me that same look, but now I can change the color of every bulb, and, they're LED. I only chimed in to say, making the switch is not always about cost. For me, it was about the colors and the look of the display. The cost is just part of the hobby. It's something we all choose to do, whether it's spending money for the possible upgrades to the electrical box, or the cost of switching to LEDs. Somewhere, somebody will get the money, but, the money's still leaving our wallet. Edited January 14, 2015 by Ron Boyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigecooper Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Same for me. I needed quality mini lights that wouldn't quit in 2 years. Mine are all zip tied to pvc so failures are a major hassle. Mounting them twice as close to each other as a normal strand creates quite the "bright" pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 My mini's are holding up well...(Holiday Living purchased at Lowes)....many have been used for 4 yrs now with not a single bulb burning out but what I am finding is the glass just pops off and that then blackens half the strand. That's the bad news but not real bad because the fix is fast and easy. All I do is look for the missing glass, replace that bulb and the fix is made. The cold frosty nights/days followed buy instant heat pops bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Al Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 My mini's are holding up well...(Holiday Living purchased at Lowes)....many have been used for 4 yrs now with not a single bulb burning out but what I am finding is the glass just pops off and that then blackens half the strand. That's the bad news but not real bad because the fix is fast and easy. All I do is look for the missing glass, replace that bulb and the fix is made. The cold frosty nights/days followed buy instant heat pops bulbs. My Lowes minis are going strong too. I am actually shocked at how reliable they have been. No need to buy LED's if things are not broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I have a pretty large incandescent display as well Archer. 70,000+ incandescent lights & some RGB floods and pixel tree. My electric costs to run display is close to $1,000.. I also have a 200 amp panel with 32 dedicated circuits for display. 100 amps won't cut it for 100,000 lights unless they are never all on Archer. Needless to say 100% RGB next year here... I have no clue how 100,000 incandescent lights can be $150.00 for the season(I know you have some LED, but not much it sounds like) I either misread or 100,000 was supposed to be 10,000 lights. I hate the look of led's (pixels included) but its a no-brainer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 We just saw a $55 bump, was running mini-trees, 32 strrand mega, house lights, audio, etc. I will take that any day of the week, when I first started it was all ican becuase they were cheap. That Decembers bill was an additional $400. Sure LED's cost more, especially if you use the commercial grade but the savings has paid for that expense in just three years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 No, I put the correct number in...100K if that helps. They are never all on at one time but 90 amps worth at times. It's all in the sequencing and changing colors. Example in my display are my multi-color windows. Using mini's and wanting the ability to change colors I wrap ea window 3 times (removable frames). 16 windows each having 200 white, 200 red and 200 green lights giving my windows 9,600 mini's but only 3,200 lit at any given time. My tower has 12 channels of white and 12 channels of red. Each channel has 600 lights so when the tower is 100% white it has 7,200 lights on but there are also 7,200 lights that are off. I have a couple of 16 channel Starbursts thar do the same thing. All of my LED'S do the same thing.Go to kevinkolak.com and look at song 5 Music Box Dancer....one of my favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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