Small things can add up to big expenses. For example, turning off lights when you’re not using them can save you money on your electric bill and so can switching to lower watt lightbulbs.

Would you be willing to switch to a lower watt lightbulb if your landlord told you to, or would you complain that you need more light?

In this story, one renter is in this situation and has a bright idea. Lets see how the story plays out.

Shining on my landlord’s face while being good on the environment

The situation

For my college years, I have decided that the best option for me (since it’s the most affordable) would be renting a room in someone else’s apartment.

This guy wasn’t ill-intentioned, though he was pretty strict, not only with his family but specially with me.

Since we were living under the same roof, using the same power/gas/water, we had agreed that he’d pay 2/3 of the monthly bills and I’d pay the other 1/3, which seemed fair to me since he was living only with his wife (they were expecting a baby, though)

The landlord was upset about a lightbulb.

The event

One night I was chilling in my computer as I usually do when I heard a bang in my door. Obviously my landlord. “Hey, your room seems to be kinda bright, how many watts is that lightbulb?”

I had no idea. I don’t even know what a watt is. Must be an energy unit of some sort.

I unscrewed the fluorescent bulb (a pretty standard one, I just grabbed the first one at the store) and read the label. 26 watts I don’t even know what that means.

The landlord gave him a different lightbulb to use.

“That’s too much, take this one. We gotta save energy.” He handed me a 15 watt one, and as expected, it was about half as bright as the previous one.

Writing/reading on paper was a pain with this one, and everything seemed as if it was on twilight.

This went on for a couple of days, when…

The action happened.

OP had a lightbulb moment when he saw lightbulbs at the grocery store.

I was on the supermarket doing pretty supermarket-y stuff, when I noticed a part of the lighting section I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe it wasn’t even there.

It was LED lights.

Out of curiosity, I walk towards one, and read the label. 4 watts.

4 watts?! You got to be kidding me. If a 15 watt lightbulb can barely manage a sloppy vague lighting, what will a 4 watt one do?

He tried out the lightbulbs.

Now, this store (idk if this happens elsewhere in the world) has a conveniently placed light bulb socket so you can try your light bulbs before purchasing them (in case they’re damaged or something).

I walk over there and slide it in and I’m amazed. It shines almost as much as the 26 watt one. But hey, 4 watts is a pretty wide margin for my 15 watt requirement, right?

I go back to the stand and pick up an 8-watt one, then head over to try it.

OP had a bright idea!

It’s really, really powerful. Even with my eyes closed, I can’t face it, because there’s so much light it goes through my eyelids.

This is the one.

I put it in my shopping cart, check out, then go home and install it. Just to try, I leave my room and close the door. It shines through the seams in the doorframe, especially at the bottom.

I’m extremely satisfied with this, and I still don’t know what a watt is.

I was expecting the story to go a different way with the landlord complaining about the lightbulbs again but OP proving him wrong… OR with OP replacing lightbulbs in the common living area like the kitchen or living room with a very low watt, dim lightbulb to annoy the landlord.

Regardless, I’m glad OP has light again.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

One person explains watts and LED bulbs.

Another person suggests more malicious compliance.

This person makes a good point.

Here’s some praise for LED bulbs.

LED bulbs for the win!

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.