"Energy Efficient" Nonsense !

[david86440]

Bill, if you want to see how much your bulbs are using I have just what you need......................

[kmitch200]

2 years ago I went through our entire house and replaced every incandescent bulb I could find with CFL's. Including all of my outside lighting around my pool.

I just went through the house and dumped every CFL. I now get the real light I want when I throw the switch - not 2 minutes later.
I haven't looked into the LEDs yet. That may be next.
My neighbor has been checking their APS bills since they bought a new ac unit. They are seeing about $60 a month savings over the previous year. I bet you're using less juice to get more (cooler) with the new unit, APS is just raping us harder.

[JC5123]

JC (and others) if you have money to invest in the market, buy shares in companies making LEDs. There is the future (plastics! ).
FQ13
PS Hazardous waste disposal companies don't suck either.

First off, that's a big if. Secondly, have you seen the market the last week. I just spent last week in a panic pulling everything out! Just because congress made another crappy 11th hour deal doesn't mean the markets will magically rebound. In fact the harsh reality is that they didn't fix ANYTHING. All they really did was put us farther in the hole. Not to mention the clown that has the credit card. Just remember, the market reacts to reality, not the funny accounting of the CBO.

[tombogan03884]

JC, the ups and downs that make the news are the average of everything, (you probably already know this but I have to post the thought )

with the right investments you can make money no matter what the average does.
Look back to the Great Depression, stuff like food will be the last thing to fall, energy stocks, things people have got to have.
Emerging technologies bought now cheap will pay off in the future, strong, established firms like Coke, or Microsoft.
Yes, their share price may drop to where they are actually affordable, but not as much as the market as a whole, and they will be among the first to recover.
There is also currency speculation.

[JC5123]

JC, the ups and downs that make the news are the average of everything, (you probably already know this but I have to post the thought )

with the right investments you can make money no matter what the average does.
Look back to the Great Depression, stuff like food will be the last thing to fall, energy stocks, things people have got to have.
Emerging technologies bought now cheap will pay off in the future, strong, established firms like Coke, or Microsoft.
Yes, their share price may drop to where they are actually affordable, but not as much as the market as a whole, and they will be among the first to recover.
There is also currency speculation.

While you are absolutely right....I have been making a killing betting against the market. 

You have to consider that most of our retirement accounts are invested in such a broad spectrum, that major fluctuations in the market are a pretty good indicator of how those accounts are doing. Sure you might have 1-2 funds that don't follow the trend, but most do. So when you see the hurricane coming, you seek shelter until the storm is over. Then you go out and profiteer from the rebuilding.

Call me overly cautious, but I believe that the debt deal isn't going to make a lick of difference to the credit rating companies. And if they do down grade our credit rating, it's going to make the '29 crash look like a clerical error. I would be surprised if the market didn't lose 5000 points in a week after that happening. Granted, like you said, if you know how to play the game, you could put in a few thousand in the right place and walk away a millionaire. 
 

[Sponsor]

[billt]

LED's are the big up and coming thing in regards to lighting. They are just way too expensive at the moment. In another few years the price will drop. We're seeing them in stoplights, and in tail lights and turn signals on new cars. For now I've got no problem with the CFL's. I just don't think they provide that much savings for the average home owner. I'm not calling in the black helicopters if I break one either.  Bill T.

[Timothy]

Bill, you would have been better served to invest the money you spent on all that new stuff.  Remember, the Fed is the one pushing all this "energy efficient" crap and they (the Feds) are anything but efficient!

I'm stocking up on incandescent bulbs before they're outlawed.  I rent and my electric bill is pushing 250 a month these days for about 1000 sq ft.

[billt]

I rent and my electric bill is pushing 250 a month these days for about 1000 sq ft.

Maybe I shouldn't bitch too loud. That was mine last month for 1,680 Sq. Ft. That includes running my pool filter 5 hours a day. Yeah, that's supposed to be "Energy Efficient" as well.  Bill T.

[Timothy]

And, I'll be dropping about 1800-1900 bucks over the winter for heating oil too.....

Years ago, I swapped a 48 year old boiler for a new one for about 3 large.  I made that 3K back in about five years on the fuel savings.  You'll never get that investment back with electrical appliances because they're drawing power 24/7 unless you unplug the damn things.  Everything runs on a circuit board now.

[Badgersmilk]

HOLY CRAP!!!  You guys aren't even serious.  We have a heat pump / ac unit.  Known to be the most inefficient creation ever in all of mankind.  During the 6 extreme temperature months of the year our power bill is $90-120, and the other 6 months of the year its $60-90.  Only once have we gone over $110 in the last two years.  And that's with an electric cloths dryer and water heater (no gas at all).  Been keeping the house at 73 degrees since winter.  I forget where we set it in the winter.