Imagine living your life, minding your own business when your landlord knocks on your door and hands you a lightbulb. If the lightbulb were half as bright as the one you had been using, would you use it or would you refuse?

In this story, one tenant was in this exact situation, and he ended up going shopping. What he discovered was truly a lightbulb moment!

Keep reading for all the details.

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 had an odd request.

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.

Time for a new lightbulb.

“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…

Then he saw some other lightbulbs.

The action happened.

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?

It was literally a lightbulb moment!

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?

But the situation got even brighter!

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

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.

Nice!

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.

The landlord can’t complain since the lightbulb is a lower watt, but now OP doesn’t have to read in the dark!

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

One person explains why the LED bulb was brighter.

I like this idea!

This person makes a good point.

Here’s a good suggestion if they really want to lower the electric bill.

Not all lightbulbs are created equal.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.