Saving Energy with LED and CFL Lighting
Are you still using the light bulbs that Thomas Edison invented? It's time to modernize!
Incandescent lamps (what Edison created) are power hogs, producing far, far less light per watt of electricity than modern CFL or LED light bulbs.
Ever see the inside of an Edison light blub? Light is produced by heating up a filament till it's white hot. That uses a lot of power and produces a lot of heat. Unless you're trying to warm a chicken coop in North Dakota, this isn't the light bulb to use.
Incandescent lamps (what Edison created) are power hogs, producing far, far less light per watt of electricity than modern CFL or LED light bulbs.
Ever see the inside of an Edison light blub? Light is produced by heating up a filament till it's white hot. That uses a lot of power and produces a lot of heat. Unless you're trying to warm a chicken coop in North Dakota, this isn't the light bulb to use.
Incandescent "Edison" Lamp
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CFL - Compact Fluorescent Lamp
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LED - Light Emitting Diode
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By contrast, CFL and LED lamps produce far more light per Watt. This means less energy is consumed, less heat is produced, and less air conditioning is needed to offset the heat production. All that translates to lower power bills.
PRIMER: A "Watt" is not a measure of how bright a light bulb is. A Watt is a measure of how much electricity a light bulb consumes. A "lumen" (Latin for "light") is a measure of light produced. Efficient light bulbs produce more lumens per Watt, so fewer Watts (less electricity) will produce more light. Since people are accustomed (incorrectly) to thinking about bulb brightness in terms of Watts, then manufacturers generally publish "Watt equivalents" on their CFL and LED bulb packaging. But really what you want to consider is lumens.
So, here's a comparison of Watts consumed, lumens produced, and costs for the three different bulb types using a 60 Watt incandescent as the base line.
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Type of Bulb Incandescent CFL LED |
Watts
Consumed 60 15 8 |
Lumens
Produced 800 800 800 |
Avg. Life
in Hours 1,000 10,000 50,000 |
Avg. Purch
Cost 1.00 1.50 3.00 |
Cost per Year
at 8/hrs/day $22.27 $5.26 $2.75 |
The cost per year includes both the pro rata purchase costs and electricity consumed. As you can plainly see, the CFL and LED lamps cost far less per year to operate with the LED being cheapest of all.
Comparing Lumens to Watts
To help with the "lumens vs. Watts" conversions, the table below shows output lumens and Watts consumed for several popular light bulb sizes. For a given amount of lumens, the lower the wattage draw, the more efficient the bulb. In this table, you can see the incandescent lamps consume the most Watts per lumen, by far (least efficient). And the LED lamps consume the least Watts per lumen making them the most efficient.
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Output
Lumens 450 800 1,100 1,600 2,600 |
Incandescent
Watts 40 60 75 100 150 |
CFL
Watts 9-13 13-15 18-25 23-30 30-55 |
LED
Watts 4-5 6-8 9-13 16-20 25-28 |
CLICK HERE for a web site that shows greater detail between these different types of lamps.
Additionally, the expense of running a light bulb (and all electrical things in your home) doesn't end with the electricity it consumes. Every Watt of power consumed turns to heat that must be cooled (removed) by your air conditioner. That's more expense on your electric bill! So logically, the less heat your light bulbs produce, the less your A/C has to run. Right? LEDs for the win!
As the federal government continues banning common (non-specialty) incandescent Edison lamps, you'll find it increasingly difficult to purchase them as existing inventories are depleted. And while CFLs are still commonly available, that will change in the coming few years as LEDs become ever cheaper and more efficient. I'd wager that by 2020 you won't see any common Edison or even CFL bulbs for sale. Virtually all common lighting by then will be LED with some incandescent lamps available for specialty use.
I definitely recommend replacing all (see exception below) your common-use incandescent Edison bulbs ASAP. Don't even wait for them to burn out -- replace them now! If you already have some CFLs on hand (but no LEDs), use them first. Otherwise, go out and buy LED bulbs. Replacing in-use CFLs with LEDs isn't as big of a savings since they are nearly as efficient. But don't buy any more CFLs. Use what you've got then start buying LEDs. LEDs have no down-side. They are nearly as cheap as CFLs, they are even more efficient, contain no mercury (CFLs contain a tiny amount), cost less to operate, generate less heat, and last longer. It's all upsides! If you are placing a bulb in a fixture with a dimmer, make sure you find a dimmable LED. Most LED bulb packaging will indicate if they are dimmable or not.
The main exception to my foregoing advice is not to replace the incandescent lamps in your oven or toaster-oven. CFL and LED lamps contain plastic and electronics that cannot tolerate the heat inside an oven. But anywhere else is fine. If you have an appliance that relies on a light bulb for dehumidification, like some older upright pianos, for example, these too must use an incandescent lamp.
You don't have to buy super expensive LED bulbs. You can buy 800 lumen (60 Watt equivalent) bulbs, a popular size, for a few bucks each. Well worth it.
Additionally, the expense of running a light bulb (and all electrical things in your home) doesn't end with the electricity it consumes. Every Watt of power consumed turns to heat that must be cooled (removed) by your air conditioner. That's more expense on your electric bill! So logically, the less heat your light bulbs produce, the less your A/C has to run. Right? LEDs for the win!
As the federal government continues banning common (non-specialty) incandescent Edison lamps, you'll find it increasingly difficult to purchase them as existing inventories are depleted. And while CFLs are still commonly available, that will change in the coming few years as LEDs become ever cheaper and more efficient. I'd wager that by 2020 you won't see any common Edison or even CFL bulbs for sale. Virtually all common lighting by then will be LED with some incandescent lamps available for specialty use.
I definitely recommend replacing all (see exception below) your common-use incandescent Edison bulbs ASAP. Don't even wait for them to burn out -- replace them now! If you already have some CFLs on hand (but no LEDs), use them first. Otherwise, go out and buy LED bulbs. Replacing in-use CFLs with LEDs isn't as big of a savings since they are nearly as efficient. But don't buy any more CFLs. Use what you've got then start buying LEDs. LEDs have no down-side. They are nearly as cheap as CFLs, they are even more efficient, contain no mercury (CFLs contain a tiny amount), cost less to operate, generate less heat, and last longer. It's all upsides! If you are placing a bulb in a fixture with a dimmer, make sure you find a dimmable LED. Most LED bulb packaging will indicate if they are dimmable or not.
The main exception to my foregoing advice is not to replace the incandescent lamps in your oven or toaster-oven. CFL and LED lamps contain plastic and electronics that cannot tolerate the heat inside an oven. But anywhere else is fine. If you have an appliance that relies on a light bulb for dehumidification, like some older upright pianos, for example, these too must use an incandescent lamp.
You don't have to buy super expensive LED bulbs. You can buy 800 lumen (60 Watt equivalent) bulbs, a popular size, for a few bucks each. Well worth it.