Brighten Up Your Life with GE Super Bright LEDs

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Somewhere around our last year of law school, Erajh started replacing all the light bulbs in our apartment with energy efficient light bulbs.  Honestly?  I was a bit annoyed by it.  We were starving students and energy efficient bulbs seemed so pricey.  Plus, there was nothing “wrong” with our old bulbs to even warrant them being replaced.  He mentioned something about life cycle cost analysis, although I pretty much tuned him out.  But my then boyfriend – now husband – was persistent and went from fixture to fixture switching all the bulbs.

And then a funny thing happened…our electric bill dropped.  Not just a tiny drop either – a big, noticeable, I-could-buy-more-clothes-and-shoes kind of drop (hey, remember, this was way before I had kids and all my money went to daycare and dance class and toys).  Suddenly my husband’s bad idea was a great one.  I loved those light bulbs and wanted to hear all about this life cycle cost analysis that he had spoken about.  We’ve been pretty loyal energy saving bulb purchasers ever since.

But with some of those bulbs biting the dust (lets not count the exact number of years, shall we?), it was time to start replacing light bulbs again.  There was no doubt that we would continue using energy saving bulbs, it was just a matter of seeing if there was something better out there.  So while I was at Walmart a few weeks ago, I headed over to the lighting aisle to check out the bulbs that were available.

And that’s where I saw it – the GE energy smart LED bulbs which boasted a $80-$90 energy savings per year…per bulb!  Now, I never sat down and determined exactly how much we were saving with our old energy saving bulbs, but I know it wasn’t that much.  And let me tell you, we could really use that extra money in our bank account right about now.  The GE energy smart LED bulbs are long life, low energy bulbs with LED technology.  At around $10 per bulb, the GE energy smart bulbs were a little more expensive than other bulbs, but they can also last over 13 years (based on a usage of 3 hours per day).  I’d like to see a regular bulb do that!

When I got the bulbs home, I realized just how much better the GE energy smart bulbs are as compared to our old bulbs.  First, these bulbs are dimmable, which our old energy saving bulbs were not.  That means that the huge light fixture in our dining room that’s still rockin’ traditional light bulbs because of the dimmer switch, can now be just as green and energy conscious as the rest of our house.  But, of course, they also fit in most standard lighting fixtures without dimming switches.  Second, these bulbs are going to way outlast our old bulbs.  Our old energy saving bulbs lasted for years, but not double digit years.  If we use these bulbs for a few hours each day they could actually last until Greenleigh is in college.  College.  Finally, these LED bulbs emit a softer, warmer appearance than our old bulbs.  It’s a soft white like performance, without the cost of the traditional bulb.  While you wouldn’t think it really makes a difference, I can assure you that this light makes that corner in my living room where I often curl up and talk on the phone at night twice as cozy.

Before trying GE energy smart LED bulbs, I probably would have made the mistake of saying that all energy saving bulbs are the same, but that’s so not true!  If you’d like to learn more about how GE energy smart LED bulbs can save your family money, check out the GE website or run the calculations yourself with their savings calculator.  And don’t forget to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!  Happy Saving!