Living Frugal on Cape Cod

A not so Bright Idea!

June 17, 2009

The other day I asked my brother Ryan to help install a new light fixture over my kitchen sink. After he was done installing, I was put to the task of finding some light bulbs. This light needed 3 light bulbs and I did not think anything of it at the time I purchased it, but 3 light bulbs put off a lot of light, especially in a small space. As I handed Ryan the bulbs we began testing to see if we needed all 3, but with only 1 bulb in the light it looked weird because there were two empty slots. Luckily Ryan came up with the ingenious idea of only screwing in 1 bulb all of the way and the other two part way. This way when I turn the light on only one will work, and the light does not look like it is missing light bulbs.

I realized that this is a great way to save some money on the electric bill. I did notice that my sister in law Hannah does this same thing with a light in her kitchen. If you have any light bulbs in your home that do not really need to be screwed in all of the way, just unscrew just a tad and you can save some money on your electric bill too. Also make sure to use compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent. Just changing your light bulbs out for fluorescent ones will save you a bundle on your electric bill.

Just for fun, here are some light bulb jokes I found:

Q: How many recovering addicts does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: One, but it takes twelve steps.

Q: How many cops does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None. It turns itself in.

Q: How many DIY’ers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Only one, but it takes him two weekends and three trips to the hardware store.

Q: How many MAC owners does it take to change alight bulb?
A: Only one, but he’d have to go out and buy the light bulb adapter card first, which cost extra.