htxag09 said:

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Honest question.....What's the payback on something like this, like 10 years?

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Like most things, it depends. LEDs have certainly brought the costs down.

With 6.5W LEDs, and $.14/kwh, it's about $.26 a year to operate per hour per day. Our vanity has 10 lamps, so $2.60 a year to operate per hour per day.

If you leave on for an extra hour a day, it'll take 14 years. If you leave on for 5 hours extra per day, it'll take less than 3 years.

In the days of incandescents, the payback for 1 hour per day and ten lamps would take a little over a year. 5 hours per day would take 3 months.

Depends how you value mental health

htxag09 said:

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Honest question.....What's the payback on something like this, like 10 years?

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Are you that worried about $36?

htxag09 said:

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Waltrip88 said:

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htxag09 said:

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Honest question.....What's the payback on something like this, like 10 years?

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Are you that worried about $36?

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No, but to counter are you that worried about kids leaving on lights and costing an extra few bucks a year? I mean the only point of a motion sensor switch is to turn off the lights when nobody is there. Just seems kind of silly to spend more on this device than it'd be saving.

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Do you still have an old laptop, tube tv, VCR, and VHS tapes? No? Why would you get rid of those when they were working just fine?

What argument are you making here?

I didn't get rid of my old, ginormous, heavy, ****ty picture tv for a new flat screen because it would save money. I did it because it was better.

I'm not saying smart switches, etc are dumb. I have them in my house. I have smart switches, smart bulbs, smart outlets, etc. But I have them more for the routines. I'm saying buying a motion activated switch because you're annoyed your kids are leaving lights on, when said switch is more than you'll save in electricity, is silly.

Your kids need a swear jar for electricity.

Mine are money driven. If I start dipping into their wallets, their behavior can be modified.

htxag09 said:

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I did it because it was better.

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The link was for a timer switch. You can set the light to turn off after 5, 10, 20 minutes. I bought it because it was better.

htxag09 said:

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Waltrip88 said:

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htxag09 said:

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Honest question.....What's the payback on something like this, like 10 years?

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Are you that worried about $36?

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No, but to counter are you that worried about kids leaving on lights and costing an extra few bucks a year? I mean the only point of a motion sensor switch is to turn off the lights when nobody is there. Just seems kind of silly to spend more on this device than it'd be saving.

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It's also hard to quantify the benefits of kids learning responsibility from the simple ways of life without the modern comforts. Not a knock against the modern comforts though.

HalifaxAg said:

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A good spanking works wonders, done right, you'll never have to do it again

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And for the wife?

Get led bulbs and stop worrying about.

4 60w equivalent bulbs cost a dime a day to run 24 hours a day.

How much would installing a timer/motion switch cost? Minimum $20 for the switch and then your time to install.

Esteban du Plantier said:

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Get led bulbs and stop worrying about.

4 60w equivalent bulbs cost a dime a day to run 24 hours a day.

How much would installing a timer/motion switch cost? Minimum $20 for the switch and then your time to install.

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Don't forget the electricity to run the motion detection.

But my sanity is worth it. Some things you can't unwire in your brain.

aTm2004 said:

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It's only your kids? Lucky you. My wife still doesn't understand the same switch that turns a light on also turns it off when pushed the other way. Oddly enough, our youngest is 5 and he actually turns lights off, shuts doors, etc. Not his older brother and sister. Lights on and doors open.

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Same. I can always tell which rooms my wife has been in each day because the lights will still be on.

I started taking out the bulbs in their room (ceiling fan bulbs, so it's easy), and placing them on their desk, whenever they failed to leave the house without turning them off...so its a hassle for them to have the lights ON - they have to do some work to get them working. this resolved their failure to turn them off. Once they got into the habit in their own room, it became a habit elsewhere.

Disco Stu said:

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I am fighting this fight as well. My kids are 9, 9, 7, 7. Each morning after they go to school I walk through the house counting the number of light switches that I have to turn off. 14 is the current high score.

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I turned off 8 this morning. Between the wife and two kids (12/15), I think i've earned the right to expect them to turn **** off.