[98_1LE]

It is a near real time (a second or two of lag) power monitor. The electric company installed it for free for signing up for a 2 year contract, and since I am planning to stay with them anyway.

Here is with the dryer on:
(IMG:http://i44.tinypic.com/20hne36.jpg)

Here is with it off:
(IMG:http://i40.tinypic.com/o53hg1.jpg)

It has a bunch of screens that display different data, including daily/weekly/monthly cost estimates.

And the remaining incandescants in the house have to go!

[BigEnos]

I definitely have a dimmable CFL in our living room table lamp (has a dimmer built in to the switch). I've also replaced much of the lights in my house with CFLs and they last a really, really long time. I think I've only had two burn out so far. They do need about a minute to warm up, though.

LEDs are the next big thing though. No mercury and they use less wattage. Really expensive right now, but that'll change.

[CrashTestDummy]

I definitely have a dimmable CFL in our living room table lamp (has a dimmer built in to the switch). I've also replaced much of the lights in my house with CFLs and they last a really, really long time. I think I've only had two burn out so far. They do need about a minute to warm up, though.

LEDs are the next big thing though. No mercury and they use less wattage. Really expensive right now, but that'll change.

We replaced almost 100% of our lights with CFLs several years ago. I didn't notice an appreciable drop in KWh used. I guess we have other things eating up more power. I did notice that we seem to have certain outlets that seem to 'kill' the bulbs. As most of the CFLs have already lasted several years, there are about three fixtures, two of the multi-light fixtures (one ceiling fan, and one bathroom light) that have one socket that I have't had a light bulb last more than a year. I find it odd, and can't explain it. Additionally, the ceiling fan came with the house we bought 12 years ago, and the bathroom light is only about 3 years old.

The LEDs I've found have been no stronger than 60 watt light output equivalent. Additionally, most of them seem to be fairly uni-directional in their light output. Great for a flashlight, bad for a light in a room. I think they are cool and the light output for power consumption is great, but don't see getting any soon at the price and light output they have at this time.

[Todd]

We replaced almost 100% of our lights with CFLs several years ago. I didn't notice an appreciable drop in KWh used. I guess we have other things eating up more power. I did notice that we seem to have certain outlets that seem to 'kill' the bulbs. As most of the CFLs have already lasted several years, there are about three fixtures, two of the multi-light fixtures (one ceiling fan, and one bathroom light) that have one socket that I have't had a light bulb last more than a year. I find it odd, and can't explain it. Additionally, the ceiling fan came with the house we bought 12 years ago, and the bathroom light is only about 3 years old.

I did some investigation of the ones that we had that burned out regularly...turns out that you aren't supposed to mount them upside down. There is a vent on the top, where the tubes come out that vents the electronic ballast. Most of the ones that we had problems with were mounted upside down and a few even went so far as to melt the plastic base. All were discolored around the vent. So if the ceiling fan/bathroom ones were mounted upside down, that was most likely the problem. This investigation has changed my stand slightly on CFL's but I still have a hard time finding decent 6000K bulbs. the 2500K units are junk, I'd be better off with a flashlight.