Incandescent lighting frequently used at WDW

[Disstevefan1]

I apologize, I'm not into lighting so forgive me if this is a stupid question. What's the issue with incandescent lights

The latest modern LED lights use a fraction of the power to deliver the same amount of light as the corresponding incandescent lights.

Modern LED lighting is becoming better and better as time goes on. I purchased an inexpensive floor lamp and it’s amazing the range of white light it produces. Truly amazing.

Having said that, the problem I am experiencing with LED replacements is that the replacements is not a screw in bulb many times, it is a LED circuit board and manufacturing quality of these boards can sometimes be poor.

I personally needed to replace the LED circuit board on two of my ceiling fans and the LED circuit board in my refrigerator is also flaky I removed it a couple of times to try to track down the flaky solder joint but no luck and a replacement board is $100, so obviously we will live with it. If it was a good old incandescent bulb, firstly it probably would have never failed and if it did you just simply screw in a new one.

So I do have a love hate relationship with LED lighting, but overall I think LEDs to replace incandescent bulbs is one of the greatest thing we have done to lower power consumption and indirectly help reduce global warming.

 

[JIMINYCR]

The latest modern LED lights use a fraction of the power to deliver the same amount of light as the corresponding incandescent lights.

Modern LED lighting is becoming better and better as time goes on. I purchased an inexpensive floor lamp and it’s amazing the range of white light it produces. Truly amazing.

Having said that, the problem I am experiencing with LED replacements is that the replacements is not a screw in bulb many times, it is a LED circuit board and manufacturing quality of these boards can sometimes be poor.

I personally needed to replace the LED circuit board on two of my ceiling fans and the LED circuit board in my refrigerator is also flaky I removed it a couple of times to try to track down the flaky solder joint but no luck and a replacement board is $100, so obviously we will live with it. If it was a good old incandescent bulb, firstly it probably would have never failed and if it did you just simply screw in a new one.

So I do have a love hate relationship with LED lighting, but overall I think LEDs to replace incandescent bulbs is one of the greatest thing we have done to lower power consumption and indirectly help reduce global warming.

Yes, energy savings at some point down the road. But also any time they say "Do this because its better and it will save you money" you end up with higher cost for parts or labor or maintenance fees. Nothing is ever less costly in the long run when you figure out all the hidden unmentioned fees. My switching over fixtures and electrician's fees was costly and I wont be seeing a break even point and actual savings for some time in my business.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Yes, energy savings at some point down the road. But also any time they say "Do this because it’s better and it will save you money" you end up with higher cost for parts or labor or maintenance fees. Nothing is ever less costly in the long run when you figure out all the hidden unmentioned fees. My switching over fixtures and electrician's fees was costly and I wont be seeing a break even point and actual savings for some time in my business.

I agree, in many cases, switching fixtures in commercial buildings is costly and it will take time to break even, and sadly, i think over time, we will be changing these LEDs more than the incandescents we replaced, but for residential use, especially simply changing a screw in light bulbs the saving is immediate and the power use is a fraction that of incandescent.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Interestingly a few months ago several dozen lights at the MK bus depot looked to be replaced with LED lights, they had that “glow” to them and were noticeably different from the standard bulbs. Also didn’t look as nice, they always give me office building vibes. A month or so later they had been changed again, this time back to the old style so they all match again.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm not sure why WDW hasn't replaced these yet; except for a few special cases such as Haunted Mansion's chandeliers, I think LEDs are up to task for these use-cases and would be interested in hearing any ideas as to why incandescent lights are still so common in the parks. (Edit: I say this as someone who loves incandescent lighting, and am questioning this from a rational/economic perspective that Disney may have)

Legacy. Until there is a retrofit, or a NLA issue.. until there is something to fund the rework, it will likely stay the same. Unlike residential where someone will just swap out a bulb.. in this commercial setting + imagineering on top of things, it's a task to actually change the design and build out. Instead of using high voltage bulbs with stepdowns, they would likely move to low voltage system with a retrofit. And from a themed design prospective, it's probably in their favor to delay change as long as possible give the highly dynamic market for products. Give things even more time for product choices to stabilize and mature.

Lighting is only about 10% of residential usage and while LED uses 75% less power, the bulbs cost double or more. To realize the savings, you’d have to project many years and that’s if the LED bulbs lasts like it says.

Have you tried buying incandescent bulbs lately? They are basically $3-5/unit for simple 40-60W types of bulbs - if you can get the form factor in general consumer retail. The crunch is over.. we're in the post transition period where the legacy styles are soaring in price and their LED equivalents are same price or cheaper.. and will continue to get cheaper per unit.

 

[SteveAZee]

Nothing is ever less costly in the long run when you figure out all the hidden unmentioned fees.

Perhaps a bit of an overstatement?

 

[NickMaio]

Lighting is only about 10% of residential usage and while LED uses 75% less power, the bulbs cost double or more. To realize the savings, you’d have to project many years and that’s if the LED bulbs lasts like it says.

In the real world, I’ve had LED bulbs burn out in under a year or just a few years, making the whole change pointless.

In general, using something that’s already been made and purchased is better than changing it out to something more efficient. The same is true for cars. It’s better to continue driving a less efficient car than demanding a brand new electric car.

For us.
The savings paid for the cost of the bulbs in 5 months.
All of our bulbs are going on 7 years and not one flicker or burn out.
Honestly, the savings is great.
1 strand of 50 led lights uses less energy than ONE bulb on our old incandescent light strands.
Those were 7watts per bulb.
Anyway. I'd rather pay a bit more upfront. Over the last 7 years we have saved a ton compared to our old lights.
Not to mention, not having to change bulbs since.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I agree, in many cases, switching fixtures in commercial buildings is costly and it will take time to break even, and sadly, i think over time, we will be changing these LEDs more than the incandescents we replaced, but for residential use, especially simply changing a screw in light bulbs the saving is immediate and the power use is a fraction that of incandescent.

If anyone is changing LEDs out with anywhere near the frequency of incandescent bulbs then there is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[JoeCamel]

I agree but at some point with the govt banning bulb manufacturing it will get to the point that we will have no options but to go totally LED. Govt interfeerence in another aspect of our lives.

Like moonshining I bet a black market will fill the void to a small degree

It’s on its way. Just slower in some places than others; in the UK (where it seems the OP is familiar with) we inherited the EU wide rule of banning filement bulb production some years ago. Then CF. And then halogen. You can still buy and/or import them if you can find them; but it gets harder. And to be honest when a 50W halogen burns out it’s just time to replace with an 8W or there abouts LED equivalent.

I've always thought of the British as inventors and tinkerer's as part of the culture surely there are back alley shops that might tool up and produce a bulb or three. Not that hard of a process today since Tom found the key and others developed it. Might just be a great side job......

Have you tried buying incandescent bulbs lately? They are basically $3-5/unit for simple 40-60W types of bulbs - if you can get the form factor in general consumer retail. The crunch is over.. we're in the post transition period where the legacy styles are soaring in price and their LED equivalents are same price or cheaper.. and will continue to get cheaper per unit.

This is an opportunity for an enterprising person

 

[Goofyernmost]

A British fellow named Humphry Davy in 1802 invented the first electric light. Thomas Edison, always happy to take the credit for the work of someone else, patented one that had a more practical use version in 1880. Basically he invented the bulb part of the light bulb. A clever accomplishment, but he didn't invent the bases for electrically produced light.

 

[JoeCamel]

A British fellow named Humphry Davy in 1802 invented the first electric light. Thomas Edison, always happy to take the credit for the work of someone else, patented one that had a more practical use version in 1880. Basically he invented the bulb part of the light bulb. A clever accomplishment, but he didn't invent the bases for electrically produced light.

OK here we go, Tom through brute force discovered the process to manufacture a light bulb that didn't go poof! in a few minutes...... He made it available to the general public so they could buy power from him

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

You can get LED's now where you can pretty much adjust the color on an app with every single color you can imagine, I wouldn't be surprised if there still into detail that they'll be doing that with their lighting in the future and have everything set just right to each area.

 

[Tom Morrow]

LED bulbs are not expensive anymore, guys. Well, the non-smart ones. They're typically $1-3 each (in packs). The days of one LED bulb costing $12 are long gone.

 

[Disstevefan1]

If anyone is changing LEDs out with anywhere near the frequency of incandescent bulbs then there is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

I personal experience is that the manufacturing quality of the LED circuit boards are low quality. I have had three instances in a short period of time there different fixtures. I have had LED floods go out on me too. The screw in LEDs I use around the house seem OK. Even with the failures, I would not go back to incandescent.

 

[MagicRat]

It’s amazing how this place can even argue over light bulbs. This type of entertainment is what keeps me coming back!

 

[Goofyernmost]

OK here we go, Tom through brute force discovered the process to manufacture a light bulb that didn't go poof! in a few minutes...... He made it available to the general public so they could buy power from him

Are you related to him or what? In my opinion he was one of the most evil men in history and he had a building full of highly intelligent people in his labs creating things that he took credit for inventing. He mostly financed the inventions. He did have some of his own but the more you know about him the less he is likable. Just the way he acted against Nicolai Tesla was almost criminal. He was a lot like Musk and Jobs. They think about things to create, but others actually do the creation. He and Jobs at least started with nothing.

He ultimately lost in his Direct Power design plan over Tesla's Alternating Power that we all use today.

 

[MissingDisney]

Are you related to him or what? In my opinion he was one of the most evil men in history and he had a building full of highly intelligent people in his labs creating things that he took credit for inventing. He mostly financed the inventions. He did have some of his own but the more you know about him the less he is likable. Just the way he acted against Nicolai Tesla was almost criminal. He was a lot like Musk and Jobs. They think about things to create, but others actually do the creation. He and Jobs at least started with nothing.

He ultimately lost in his Direct Power design plan over Tesla's Alternating Power that we all use today.

I think in the grand scheme of things, saying he is one of the most evil men in history is a bit of a reach.

 

[Lilofan]

Are you related to him or what? In my opinion he was one of the most evil men in history and he had a building full of highly intelligent people in his labs creating things that he took credit for inventing. He mostly financed the inventions. He did have some of his own but the more you know about him the less he is likable. Just the way he acted against Nicolai Tesla was almost criminal. He was a lot like Musk and Jobs. They think about things to create, but others actually do the creation. He and Jobs at least started with nothing.

He ultimately lost in his Direct Power design plan over Tesla's Alternating Power that we all use today.

That's somewhat of a scenario if Thomas Edison can't be given credit for the light bulb, the same folks who believe this, cast Thomas Edison as the villain.

 

[Lilofan]

Saving energy and money with led bulbs.
Even switching over every bulb in our house we noticed a difference in our energy monthly bills.

That's also not realistic at WDW . To change every bulb is a fantasy. The attraction rides can't even be properly maintained ( ie frequent breakdowns ) so to get every bulb to be LED at WDW is a nice way to dream.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think in the grand scheme of things, saying he is one of the most evil men in history is a bit of a reach.

That's somewhat of a scenario if Thomas Edison can't be given credit for the light bulb, the same folks who believe this, cast Thomas Edison as the villain.

Check out what he did to animals in the effort to scare people out of favoring AC over DC. There were a lot of evil men in history, in my opinion he was only one of them.