WattHackers | Save Power | Go Solar | Live Green

It’s official - I’m a watt weenie! Since starting this project, I’ve become conscious of our power usage in ways that I would not have thought possible. We don’t sit in the dark and huddle around a candle for warmth, but we have started turning more stuff off and unplugging power hungry electronics when we aren’t using them. It is interesting what my watt hacker eye clues in on. For example, yesterday I was walking through the kitchen and noticed the light on for the refrigerator ice/water door. This light glows 24/7, 365 days a year and has for the last 6 seasons, so I’m not entirely sure why I’m seeing it now. I resisted the temptation at first, but decided that this was most certainly a candidate for watt hacking.Our Refrigerator is a 6 year old GE side-by side with water and Ice in the door. The light that illuminates it is a 7 watt incandescent bulb (C7 style.) I had to make a trip to our local home center to pick up some screws for another project and decided to add this bulb to my list. A quick scan of the lighting section left me thinking that I would be forced to continue my search online since all their compact fluorescent Lamps (CFL) were much larger than I was looking for. Then as I was leaving the section, I noticed a few LED (light emitting diode) bulbs tucked over by the smoke alarms. I don’t know about you, but when I think of power saving light bulbs, I think smoke alarms?! Getting past the poor attempt at merchandising, I quickly located a package of 2 C-7 LED bulbs. The bulbs are manufactured by FEIT Electric are UL listed, contain 3 LEDs, retail for $4.99 and are “cool white” according to the package. I picked up a pack to give them a try.
Installation is easy:

1. unscrew old bulb
2. kiss it goodbye
3. Screw in new bulb.
4. Flip switch back on (okay, I didn’t turn off the switch, but you should to be safe)

If you have ever painted a room, you know there are endless shades of whites. They have names like Snowy Meadow, Cotton Whisper, and my personal favorite, Canyon Cloud. I bet they have a million shades of white and still I don’t think these bulbs match one of them. I will let the photos below speak for themselves, but I would not say the light quality is particularly good. But then again, it essentially only serves as a night light, so we will leave the bulb in and see if it grows on us.

What I do like about this watt hack is that the numbers pencil out and we benefit from reducing greenhouse gasses. After sales tax, I paid $5.40 for a pair of these LED bulbs. One bulb in action will save $5.47 per year based on Phoenix, AZ energy prices. If you have other night lights in your house, replacing another incandescent lamp will net you nearly $11 savings in the first year. That means they pay for themselves in just under 6 months, but that may vary depending on the cost of power and sales tax in your neck of the woods. Not too shabby for a project that took something like 20 second to complete. Be sure to check out the numbers below and decide if your refrigerator light is burning too bright.

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1. 10 Power Monitoring Devices to put Your House on a Diet and Save Power
2. Installing Dusk to Dawn Photocell in Exterior Lighting to Save Power
3. More Options for Installing Dusk to Dawn Lighting Sensors
4. Embarking on a Journey to Free Energy and Clean Air