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If approximately 12% - 15% of the average power bill is lighting, then how are people claiming to be saving sooo much $$$ on electricity with LED lighting? I mean, it isn't like the average household is saving $150.00 every month? Especially when the largest power consuming items in the home are appliances most people need and use every day, fridge, furnace, dryer, washing machine, oven. I am a little confused, and perhaps many are a little misled. Even the (good) par 20/30 LEDs that give an almost halogen-ish light, still have a purple halo that outlines the spot of the surface being lit.
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Not at all appealing, unless you have vampire friends over for dinner, lol! The light does not seem to diffuse the same as natural incandescent, it reflects off of shiny surfaces with an intense blinding flash. As they dim, the light actually turns grey. Yes, there is a good variety of LEDs that are dimmable, the problem I have with them is they don't dim like normal lights of the past. Neither of which are an environment I find appealing. Perhaps like a subway car at night, or the apple store. Very cold and Institutional look and feel. The color rendering of the majority is very reminiscent of flourescent, and inconsistent from brand to brand. I find LED lighting makes homes look bizarre, cheap and very unappealing, and maybe a bit cheesy. My hand with the wedding band is the best, if I wave it a few feet in front of my face, I can usually pick out the strobe effect. Which is why some may be a better or worse. It's also up to the manufacturer to decide the frequency or on off cycle to regulate the flicker, it doesn't necessarily directly relate to the 60HZ cycle of the main power. Sometimes I only notice the flicker out of the corner of my eye from a reflection of light from a sink or a railing. The flicker is most noticeable when you are moving though a room ,or by simply waving a pen back and forth while under LED lights. The flicker is more noticeable with some brands than others, some people may not notice as much as others. I never liked cfl lighting at all either, I remember seeing a few of them back in the early 90s and wondered who would want these in their home? The color rendering is better with some of the LEDs, but the annoying pulse/flicker they all seem to have is almost sickening. Enjoy the process, it is better than shopping for new clothes, as these will grow and change with the seasons, and respond to your attention like family. In conclusion, provide the information requested above for those here at houzz, who are waiting to advise you further, and more directly. Once at the garden center, the learned staff will help you further on your search for the perfect new companions, but take at least three of any one selection. Back at the front bed, look at the winterberry and other Ilexes, sweetbells(Leucothoe racemosa), northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), Catawba rhododentron, lowbush and highbush blueberries, and all the viburnums and azaleas. Look at the vertical stems of shadblow, crape myrtle, star magnolia, birch, kousa dogwood, and the horizontal or sculptural branching of the common dogwood and saucer magnolia. While at the garden center, also look at taller plants or trees to throw shadows on the windowless side of your house, which probably faces the windowless side of your neighbor's house. You have one tree in the bed, you don't want just one shrub of each type. Touch it, smell it, and consider it in at least triplicate, not as an individual. You just discarded an old friend and are seeking something new. Recommendations: I'll give you some different categories of plants to think about, but don't make any conclusions until you have taken the list to your local garden center, and shook the plant's hand and introduced yourself, as you will be inviting them to become part of your family, so book reading is not adequate. If that is the case, call Miss Utility to mark the route of the underground cable, before you dig out the old friends and prepare a hole for each of the new ones. There appears to be a utility splice box in the bed. The Bradford pear is going to split off one of its trunks in a few years, so, if you love it, have your tree surgeon perform orthopedic surgery with pins and cables to keep it intact. Now for the cautions revealed in your photo. Do you want vertical stems of a shrub to look through or small horizontal branched tree to look under, or a mound to look over or around. Do you like the unfiltered view of the sidewalk and street, to watch the daily parade of neighbors and their dogs, see the school bus approaching? d. You have not been completely open with us, so I need to interview you before offering any recommendations.