Conservation Pays More With Inflation

  Ok I see your point, but the difference in the bank from the 19.53 and the 18 could be saved and earned interest on.
 Also what will the 10 years from now yield in the cost lowering for led bulbs and the improvements?

  Thanks, I was actually looking at these basement led lights for my off-grid cabin up north to mount in a hanging ceiling.
  http://ledceilingtile.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=LED&Category_Code=PI     
         I have tried the led lights in the bedrooms that screw in like a light bulb equal to 60 watts.  They were way to dull encased in the glass, even dimmer than the new cfl bulbs. I want them for my cabin because it is off grid. Let me know if anyone has opinions or tried these kinds of led"s.

  Thanks they dont list the lumens. Just the color spectrum.
Ill have to find out

I personally use the following 12VDC bulbs for ambient lighting in my off-grid house:

MR-PL-DC-WW-12   
12VDC Medium Base Bulb, Warm White
Case of 12 pcs: $225.00 ($18.75 ea)

The light they produce is very warm and full-spectrum and even coverage, like any 25W incandescent bulb, but these use only 3.5W each.  The daylight white ones are also very pleasing and just a little brighter.

I use them in 4" recessed cans as well as wall fixtures.  They would also work in lamps or ceiling fans just fine.  One alone is too little for anything but a tiny room (e.g. my mud room and half-bath).  Between 2-4 in a room will light it well, though you'll still want task lighting, e.g. a lamp to read by.  If you wanted the same light output as a 60W incandescent bulb (~900 lumens), you would need to use 6-7 of these 130 lumen bulbs.  That said, I think that 4 of these spread out around a room equally will produce the same effect as a single 60W point source, since the lumens reaching the far walls will be quite a bit lower from a single central source than four distributed ones.  Luminosity decreases exponentially rather than linearly with distance.  I also think multiple sources, especially a combination of up and down lights and lamps, feels nicer than a single bright one.

My lighting philosophy right now is to use 12VDC for all of my ambient lighting and to use 120VAC from an inverter for bright task lighting.  This way I'm not dependent on the inverter as a single point of failure, but I still get the benefits of AC lighting, automation, and appliances.  So if my inverter goes out, I still have lighting and other conveniences.  I have all of my 120VAC lights on an automation system so that I can turn them all off from a single switch at night or when leaving the house.  I have all of my 12VDC lights (which provide ambient lighting) on motion sensors to turn on and off automatically based on occupancy. 

I like how the LEDs turn on instantly when you walk into a room whereas CFLs take time to warm up to full brightness.  This is particularly important for rooms used for short durations such as hallways and bathrooms.  Also, LEDs do not suffer from repeated cycling like CFLs and incandescents do, so using LEDs are especially useful for frequently used ambient lighting of this type.

3200 lumens is about the same as two 100W incandescent bulbs or one 48" fluorescent tube, so that's rather bright.  The dimmer might be a good idea.  I would still recommend to split your cost and lighting into more, lower-cost fixtures.  Also, if you are able, running the extra 12V line would be a good idea.  What do you have for light if your inverter fails for some reason?  Some 12VDC lights would be a good backup instead of relying entirely on your inverter.