We know, we know, LED fixtures are way more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Legislation demands that we accept them into our homes as a way to curb energy costs. I’m not particularly green, nor do I like doing what people tell me to do, but there is one thing I love about LED light fixtures: they just might help protect my accident-prone husband from seriously hurting himself..

A few years ago when the incandescent blubs of the chandelier in our foyer needed changing, there wasn’t a ladder tall enough to reach—at least any of the ladders that we owned. Rather than borrow a neighbors’, my husband rigged up his own scaffolding of sorts. Basically, this involved placing each leg of a ladder on a stack of books positioned on the coffee table. Good idea. Not!

Climbing to the last step of the ladder (you know, the one you’re not supposed to step on) still didn’t bring him close enough to the fixtures. To extend his reach, my husband taped a kitchen knife (yes, a knife) to the end of a yardstick. Don’t ask me how a contraption like this could possibly work—I left the room at that point—but with the grace of God, it did.
We’ve since moved out of that house with the 20-foot living room ceiling, into an older house where step ladders suffice for bulb changes. But it’s nice to know that LEDs are there to minimize the risk. In fact, NxGen Technologies  recently announced the availability of dimmable, LED-based chandelier bulbs that have been designed to last more then 25,000 hours. If they stay lit for 8 hours a day, they will last almost nine years. They are expected to sell for between $10 and $12.

Lisa Montgomery - Contributing Writer

Lisa Montgomery has been writing about home technology for 15 years, with a focus on the impact of electronics on a modern lifestyle.