I work in commercial lighting and the technology of LED has recently skyrocketed in energy efficiency and luminous efficacy (brightness); numbers from last year aren't even accurate. Residential is a less drastic so I've calculated some current numbers of residential lighting for my fellow frugalites.
Conservative assumptions:
- Lights are on 8 hrs/day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
- Electric rate is the national average of $0.12/kWhr. Found on your electric bill and depending on your state, it can vary from $0.08 (ID) to $0.33 (HI).
- You're currently using E26 (standard screw-in base size) of either 60-watt incandescent bulbs or 14-watt CFL bulbs (curly Q's).
- E12 bulbs have the skinny screw in base size (candelabra), watts are comparable
- LED bulbs are the current average of 5 watts.
- You’re not buying cheap bulbs (if it starts to flicker, it’s a cheap bulb).
- Buy & test a brand for 2-3 weeks if unsure.
- I trust most everything from 1000bulbs.
- Buy & test a brand for 2-3 weeks if unsure.
- Interior only
- Exterior lights are typically on a lot longer than interior (11 hrs), so exterior should be moved up the priority list.
Stats (8hrs/7days @ $0.12/kWhr):
- Incandescent
- Annually, 1 incandescent bulb adds $21.02 to your electric bill. That breaks down to $1.75 per month.
- Annually, 8 incandescent bulbs add $168.19, breaks down to $14.02/mo.
- CFL
- Annually, 1 CFL bulb adds $4.91, breaks down to $0.41/mo (75% decrease from incandescent).
- Annually, 8 CFL bulbs add $39.24, breaks down to $3.27/mo.
- LED
- Annually, 1 LED bulb adds $1.75, breaks down to $0.15/mo (92% decrease from incandescent, 67% decrease from CFL).
- Annually, 8 LED bulbs add $14.02, breaks down to $1.17/mo.
Let's say you have 15 bulbs in your house and replace them all with LED bulbs at $5 each. The upfront cost is $75.00. If they're incandescent, it would take 3.11 months to recoup your investment from energy savings and save $289.08/yr on your electric bill. If they're CFL, it would take 17.12 months to recoup and save $52.56/yr. It seems logical to wait until your bulbs burn out before upgrading, but it's a no-brainer to replace them all at once when you see the numbers (could argue upgrading from CFL).
Plus, (good) LEDs last 50,000 hours or 5.7 years if left on 24/7. Also, LEDs aren't solely the bright white you see on headlights, the color is determined by Kelvin. The lower the Kelvin number, the more yellow/orange the light is. They even now have affordable LED filament bulbs (Edison) which are great for aesthetics.
Hope this helps someone out there. Here’s to a bright future.
September 05, 2018 at 03:33AM
