LED Lighting Locations
 

If you were switching to LED lighting, but couldn't all at once (budget constraints, etc.) where would you put those limited number of LED bulbs?

Here's my Top 5.
For more on it, visit my blog at: Top 5 Places for LED Lighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xDgQiYQ8XI

Where else would you use LED? Discuss.

I've always just started with the areas that are most used. I haven't thought too much about the others besides the garage work lights.

Good idea Ben , using specialized application for the LED's , this way you get the most bang for your buck and you can reuse the bulbs you swapped and actually start saving money right away.
My top 5 places

Over the dinning room table = because I sit there often

Oven / stove vent lighting = because I leave that light on in the evenings

living room reading light = I read there

bathroom = often this light gets left on by accident

fridge = a 1 to 3 watt bulb in there is all you need and the heat as Ben reminded us is much lower ,especially when comparing a 3w or under LED to a 20W incandescent..

Flashlights , I have 2 LED flashlights , one is a 7w LED the other has five 7w LED's in it for a massive flood light of a flashlight - that one is shockingly bright to most observers , although the single 7w LED zoom focus flashlight is exceptionally bright on its own (it will light up about 1/4 the area of a soccer field).

Next time I see LED's on sale I will buy one for my fridge and bathroom ( the other areas are already LED ) and keep the old fridge bulb for a stove bulb when it goes.



Also
I want to buy a motion activated switch for the bathroom , that light seems to get left on the most when not needed.

Out side first.
CFLs out side will only last a week and never get up to full brightness when it gets really cold out.

The refrigerator has a double benefit - you don't use the 20W for the bulb, and you then do not have to use more power to remove the heat from the frig. A double win!

Replace the stove bulb? The electronics in the LED bulb will fry from the stove's heat.

High use bulbs get changed 1st, PAR bulbs are good to change due to the cost of conventional replacements. LED bulbs are down to $5 for an 800 lumen, price isn't much of a barrier to LED anymore.

Is the fridge bulb on long enough to generate a significant heat load on the fridge?

Great sales video!

Regarding my front porch light, I tried several different LEDs before I got the one I prefer.

In deciding on the proper bulb, I ended up giving consideration to the the people who will come in and leave, when it is evening.

My first bulb was a down-projecting LED, I realized that the people I was welcoming into my home, looked a bit like they were standing under an interrogation spot-light (they probably felt that way, too).

Then I changed to a diffused LED, bulb, and that was better.

Lastly, I realized that at night, the front porch is the transition between interior lighting, and the much dimmer street lighting.

The bulb I had put in was was way too bright, and people were made to step off of a too-bright porch into darkness (and stairs), with eyes not yet accustomed to the night.

In my case, a small 2.5 watt frosted bulb was the right balance. Just enough light to see, and perfect for transitioning into the twilight.

-AC

Consider your most wasteful light fixtures. I had already replaced my standard based lights for cfl years ago, except for one 4 light halogen track with gu10 bulbs. Bulbs were 40 watts each, a small fortune, cfls were pricey too. Finally found led replacements for cheap and my 160 watt track went to 16 watts.

My 5 outdoor lights run the longest of any fixture, dusk till dawn, whether I'm home or not. I also want these lights pretty bright so the cfls I replaced were 23watts each. The leds I swapped in use about half the power.

Per my families current habits our upstairs lights run maybe an hour a day. And I'd guess 95% of our lighting use is in our kitchen and den and thats mostly provided by 3 fixtures.

Our kitchen light usually stays on from dusk until bedtime. As we've remodeled I've changed all of our new lights for led. our island vent hood has led strips for work lights. The under cabinet lights all led. We can run the whole kitchen brightly lit with just led. We even use a few kitchen lights and leave the den off for more indirect lighting for tv time.

Our ceiling fans, these bugged me 6 years ago when I was building the house. Because medium incans were to be banned the fixture companies switched over to candelabra and intermidiate base to save cost. The only fans I liked had intermidiate bases. While they've had cfl since I installed them the led are tricky to find and more than I want to pay for x4 each fan. The easy way to go would be a base adapter which I haven't yet. Each fan also has decorative uplight which used 4 x 5 watt night light bulbs. I have swapped those over to .5 watt nightlight led bulbs. Not super powerful but great for mood light.

gtojohn the base adapters can be had on eBay for $1or $2 I was looking at them for my living room fan light , which has the useless to me mini bulb socket in it.

Your kitchen sounds nice with a Vent over the island , classy

Anyone reading on this site probably has CFL bulbs already in all places reasonable. I switched to LED in the places that get turned on and off most. Bath room, hall, and stair well, then outdoor entrances. Now I'm swapping the kitchen recessed. All others will stay CFL until failure, then replaced with the best fit at that time.