Introduction
Hi there and welcome, in this article I will be looking at whether LED lights are cheaper to run than other forms of lighting.
Firstly I have to tell you that I love bamboo socks. In fact I am wearing them now. Wait, I hear you say, I came here for light bulbs, not socks, what gives?
Well bamboo socks are environmentally friendly, reasonable priced and, in my opinion, the best of all socks. However, I also still own other socks. For example, cotton short socks that hide in my sneakers, long socks for soccer and specialist hiking socks. On other words, just because something is the best does not mean you only ever use that one things.
So this article is about whether LED light bulbs are the cheapest to run. Compared to the other options available. And does this mean I should switch all my bulbs to LED. Or is it like socks. And there is a place for lots of different kinds.
In order to find out I am going to consider a number of different scenarios around the home. For instance interior lighting, outdoor lighting, security floodlights and even appliance lighting.
So if you want to know if LED lights are cheaper to run then please read on…
Different Types of Lighting Available
Before we start looking at how much things cost to run lets have a brief look at the different bulbs available. For the most part there are four different types of light bulbs we use.
Incandescent Light Bulbs
These are the old style light bulbs with a wire filament. When a current passes through it the filament glows brightly generating light. They waste a lot of power generating heat rather than light making them very inefficient.
A plan was in place to effectively ban incandescent bulbs in the United States at the start of 2020, due to their inefficient power usage. However, the Department of Energy, who were responsible for the move, decided not to implement it and they returned to previous lighting standards.
Halogens
Like incandescents halogen bulbs have a filament that glows when a current passes through it. The difference being that the element surrounding the filament contains only halogen gas. The gas increase the light produced and also extends the life of the filament. This makes them more efficient and having a longer lifetime than incandescent bulbs, but still not as efficient as CFLs and LEDs.
Compact Fluorescents
Compact Fluorescents or CFLs are fluorescent tubes, like the ones used in offices and stores. The manufacturing process folds the tubes into a compact shape so that they fit in a normal light bulb socket. Light is release when a current passes through the mercury vapor within the sealed tube. Unfortunately mercury is a neurotoxin. As such you need to careful disposal of CFLs.
CFLs are no longer popular in the US with LEDs largely taking their place. General Electric stopped producing CFLs in 2016. This has seen sales going from making up 3% of the total market in 2018 to less than 1% in 2020.
LEDs
Light Emitting Diodes or LEDs are small pieces of semiconductor that emit a light when a current passes through them. They use the same semiconductors technology as the production of microprocessor chips for our phones and computers. Within an LED light bulb there are 3 separate LEDs, one red, one blue and one green. These three different colors of light combine to produce a white light.
Working Out The Cost
In order to work out the cost of using a light bulb we need to know three things. Firstly how much it costs to buy. Secondly how much does it cost to run. Thirdly, how long will it last before we have to buy a new one.
Luckily all this information is provided to us by the manufacturers of light bulbs, and can found on the packaging.
Light Bulb Usage
In general bulb lifetimes are worked out around an average usage of 3 hours per day. But like my sock usage not every bulb is used for the same amount. For example I really hope that the little light bulb in my refrigerator is not on for 3 hours every day.
So in each scenario around the house I am going to consider different amounts of usages. In this situation high, medium of low usage levels.
Choosing Example Bulbs
To demonstrate the costs for each light bulb types I will choose example bulbs. These will be light bulbs you can buy at your local home goods store. From large brands, and at mid-range prices. None of the cheap light bulbs you can find on Amazon from suppliers you have never heard.
I will use the data supplied by the manufacturers. And in the case of LEDs try to pick ones that are Energy Star certified. In these cases the numbers have been checked by an independent testing company. So are more reliable.
Cost of Electricity
According to the Save on Energy website the average cost of electricity in the United States is 13.83 cents per kilowatt-hour. As of the May 2nd 2022.
Different Lighting Scenarios
Living Room
If your living room is anything like mine it is a mix of ceiling hanging lights and lamps. Also the light bulbs themselves are pretty standard medium base pear-shaped ones. Mainly frosted ones. I did consider including vintage or statement bulbs, but these are hard to find in anything except LED. So, I will stick to standard frosted bulbs.
Our example lighting: Two standard E26 light bulbs 100 watts, two lamps at 60 watts, one 3-way lamp at 30/70/100 watts.
Hallway and Kitchen
My hallway has 3 flood lights. While my kitchen has three spot light. Which gives us a good mix of lighting. Additionally there are two small bulbs in the extractor hood and one in the fridge.
Our example lighting: Three flood lights 60 watts, three spot lights 60 watts, three small appliance lights
Bathrooms
As an illustration my en suite has two spot lights and a light over the mirror. Which seems a pretty reasonable set-up.
Our example lighting: Two spot lights at 40 watts and one small tube shaped bulb.
Bedrooms
In my house the bedrooms have no ceiling lighting whatsoever and it is all lamps. However, I know this is not the case for everyone. So lets consider a single ceiling light and two lamps using smaller bulbs.
Our example lighting: One standard light bulbs 60 watts, two small base lamp bulbs at 40 watts.
Outdoors and Security
As I live in the city I don’t actually have any outdoor. However I can dream. So lets say a dusk-to-dawn bulb for the porch. A security light with 2 floods for the back garden and some accent lighting for the garden. Lovely.
Our example lighting: One dusk-to-dawn 60 watts, two flood lights 100 watts, one landscape bulbs 40 watts
Results
So in order to work out if LED light bulbs are cheaper to run firstly I took the lighting examples above. Next I worked out how much each bulb would cost, how much power it uses and how long it lasts. For all four different light bulb types. This information is shown in the four tables below.
Then I calculates how much power each bulb would use, under low, medium and high usage scenarios. These hours are shown in the Incandescent Light Bulbs table below. From there I could work out how much power they would use and whether the bulb would need to be replaced within five years. In general halogens and incandescents only last a year or two so I had to factor in buying more than one bulb. Finally I added up the cost of the electricity used and added the cost of the light bulbs bought. Giving me a total for all scenarios. This is shown in the final table.
Incandescent Light Bulbs
So for all of the lighting scenarios I worked out how much it would cost to buy incandescent bulbs. In general they tend to be cheap but have a short lifetime.
Room | Light Bulb Type | No | Wattage | Cost | Lifetime | Low Hours | Med Hours | High Hours |
Living Room | Standard A19 Bulbs | 2 | 75 | $2.00 | 1000 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
Living Room | Lamps (small screw) | 2 | 60 | $1.00 | 1000 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
Living Room | 3-Way (30/70/100) | 2 | 70 | $3.25 | 1200 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Flood Lights | 3 | 60 | $2.00 | 1000 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Small Applicance | 3 | 25 | $4.60 | 2500 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
Bathroom | Spot Lights | 2 | 40 | $2.35 | 2000 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
Bathroom | Mirror Tube | 1 | 60 | $2.60 | 1200 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
Bedroom | Standard A19 | 1 | 60 | $2.00 | 1000 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Bedroom | Bedside Lamps | 2 | 40 | $1.50 | 1000 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Outdoors And Security | Dawn-to-Dusk | 1 | 60 | $1.00 | 15000 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
Outdoors And Security | Flood Lights | 2 | 100 | $2.00 | 1000 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 |
Outdoors And Security | Landscape Bulb | 1 | 20 | $1.20 | 1000 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
Dawn-to-Dusk Socket | 1 | $10.00 |
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Halogen Light Bulbs
Similarly I looked at how much it would cost to buy all halogens. Halogens tend to last longer, sometimes use less power and normally cost more.
Room | Light Bulb Type | No | Eq Wattage | Actual Wattage | Cost | Lifetime |
Living Room | Standard A19 Bulbs | 2 | 75 | 53 | $3.20 | 1000 |
Living Room | Lamps (small screw) | 2 | 60 | 60 | $5.00 | 2000 |
Living Room | 3-Way (30/70/100) | 2 | 70 | 60 | $4.65 | 1200 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Flood Lights | 3 | 60 | 60 | $5.00 | 1500 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Small Applicance | 3 | 25 | 25 | $7.00 | 2000 |
Bathroom | Spot Lights | 2 | 40 | 40 | $2.25 | 3000 |
Bathroom | Mirror Tube | 1 | 60 | 60 | $6.00 | 1500 |
Bedroom | Standard A19 | 1 | 60 | 53 | $3.20 | 1000 |
Bedroom | Bedside Lamps | 2 | 40 | 40 | $3.91 | 1000 |
Outdoors And Security | Dawn-to-Dusk | 1 | 60 | 60 | $5.00 | 1500 |
Outdoors And Security | Flood Lights | 2 | 100 | 72 | $6.00 | 1000 |
Outdoors And Security | Landscape Bulb | 1 | 20 | 20 | $2.80 | 2000 |
Dawn-to-Dusk Socket | $10.00 |
CFL Light Bulbs
Lighting my whole home with compact flourescents was not so easy. As they only really come in one style. Also they are largely being replaced by LEDs. However, I did manage to find enough examples to fill in my table.
Room | Light Bulb Type | No | Eq Wattage | Actual Wattage | Cost | Lifetime |
Living Room | Standard A19 Bulbs | 2 | 75 | 18 | $2.00 | 12,000 |
Living Room | Lamps (small screw) | 2 | 60 | 13 | $3.25 | 10,000 |
Living Room | 3-Way (30/70/100) | 2 | 70 | 13 | $8.00 | 10,000 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Flood Lights | 3 | 60 | 13 | $2.25 | 10,000 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Small Applicance | 3 | 25 | 5 | $3.25 | 10,000 |
Bathroom | Spot Lights | 2 | 40 | 11 | $3.65 | 12,000 |
Bathroom | Mirror Tube | 1 | 60 | 16 | $3.70 | 12,000 |
Bedroom | Standard A19 | 1 | 60 | 13 | $3.25 | 10,000 |
Bedroom | Bedside Lamps | 2 | 40 | 11 | $3.65 | 12,000 |
Outdoors And Security | Dawn-to-Dusk | 1 | 60 | 13 | $3.25 | 10,000 |
Outdoors And Security | Flood Lights | 2 | 100 | 23 | $5.75 | 12,000 |
Outdoors And Security | Landscape Bulb | 1 | 20 | 5 | $3.50 | 10,000 |
Dawn-to-Dusk Socket | 1 | $10.00 |
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LED Light Bulbs
Finally the costs for using LEDs. Currently LEDs come in all shapes and sizes. So it was easy to find bulbs for all areas. Also prices for LEDs have dropped significantly since they were introduces. Thus the costs were not super high.
Room | Light Bulb Type | No | Eq Wattage | Actual Wattage | Cost | Lifetime |
Living Room | Standard A19 Bulbs | 2 | 75 | 8 | $2.50 | 15000 |
Living Room | Lamps (small screw) | 2 | 60 | 5 | $1.90 | 15000 |
Living Room | 3-Way (30/70/100) | 2 | 70 | 10 | $5.00 | 10000 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Flood Lights | 3 | 60 | 8.5 | $2.75 | 7500 |
Hallway and Kitchen | Small Applicance | 3 | 25 | 2.7 | $6.00 | 15000 |
Bathroom | Spot Lights | 2 | 40 | 7 | $3.80 | 25000 |
Bathroom | Mirror Tube | 1 | 60 | 6 | $4.20 | 15000 |
Bedroom | Standard A19 | 1 | 60 | 8 | $2.50 | 15000 |
Bedroom | Bedside Lamps | 2 | 40 | 4 | $3.40 | 6000 |
Outdoors And Security | Dawn-to-Dusk | 1 | 60 | 9 | $4.80 | 15000 |
Outdoors And Security | Flood Lights | 2 | 100 | 12 | $6.15 | 15000 |
Outdoors And Security | Landscape Bulb | 1 | 20 | 2.9 | $5.50 | 25000 |
Total Costs Over 5 Years
Furthermore I took the wattage for all of my chosen bulbs and worked out how much they would cost to run. This was done across low, medium and high usage.
Type | Usage | Total kWatts | Total Electric Cost | Total Bulbs Cost | Total Cost (5 years) | Initial Cost |
Incandescent | Low | 3107 | $429.70 | $41.46 | $481.17 | $60.80 |
Incandescent | Medium | 5484 | $758.45 | $75.63 | $844.08 |
|
Incandescent | High | 10530 | $1,456.33 | $150.77 | $1,617.10 |
|
Halogen | Low | 2492 | $344.65 | $85.22 | $439.87 | $103.02 |
Halogen | Medium | 5006 | $692.33 | $178.96 | $881.29 |
|
Halogen | High | 9574 | $1,324.08 | $333.59 | $1,667.67 |
|
CFL | Low | 635 | $87.83 | $9.32 | $107.15 | $92.80 |
CFL | Medium | 1221 | $168.85 | $19.85 | $198.70 |
|
CFL | High | 2347 | $324.58 | $37.32 | $371.90 |
|
LED | Low | 349 | $48.25 | $7.87 | $56.12 | $88.75 |
LED | Medium | 692 | $95.73 | $17.17 | $112.91 |
|
LED | High | 1319 | $182.38 | $32.01 | $214.39 |
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As can be seen in the table above LED bulbs are cheaper to run under all three scenarios, Whether it is low, medium or high usage. Moreover the cost of LED light bulbs has reduced considerably since they were introduced. In fact buying LEDs works out only a little more expensive than incandescents and less than halogens and CFLs.
What is clear from looking at the table is what is most important component is the cost of the electricity. Thirteen cents a kilowatt hour may not sound so much but it adds up over five year.
Conclusions: Are LED Lights Cheaper to Run
So, in conclusion to the question are LED lights cheaper to run, the answer is yes. LEDs are cheaper over a five year time scale than CFLs, halogens or older incandescent bulbs. Also they are not expensive to buy and the saving in electricity is significant.