Small steps can add up when it comes to energy conservation.

Case in point: a Spencerport Municipal Electric initiative involving light bulbs. Residential and small business customers of the utility, which serves the village and part of Ogden, can get up to two LED light bulbs from Spencerport Municipal Electric at no cost. To fund the initiative, the utility set aside $30,000 from its energy efficiency program fund.

A post on the village website says that the 10 watt bulbs are dimmable and can replace typical 60 watt incandescent bulbs. And it says that homeowners could cut lighting-related electricity use by up to 80 percent if they replace all of their household's bulbs with LED's.

The upfront cost of LED bulbs is considerably higher than incandescent bulbs and some compact fluorescent lights. But because of their efficiency, LED's have one-quarter the operating cost of incandescent bulbs, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. They're also more efficient.

LED bulbs last longer, too. NYSERDA says that an LED bulb lasts between 30,000 to 50,000 hours, compared to 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb and 10,000 hours for a compact florescent light.