Today, a plethora of lighting products gives consumers the power to choose according to their specifications, within acceptable price ranges. Savings to consumers can be calculated not only in terms of money and replacement frequency but also energy consumption and environmental impact. With the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 having concluded its last phase of converting the U.S.A. into a more energy-efficient, light consuming country, it has gotten easier to have consumers turn to more energy-saving light bulbs, i.e., the LED bulb, as opposed to incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.

1. How Much Money Can LED Lighting Really Save You?
Today, a plethora of lighting products gives consumers the power to choose
according to their specifications, within acceptable price ranges. Savings to
consumers can be calculated not only in terms of money and replacement
frequency but also energy consumption and environmental impact.
With the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 having concluded
its last phase of converting the U.S.A. into a more energy-efficient, light-
consuming country, it has gotten easier to have consumers turn to more
energy-saving light bulbs, i.e., the LED bulb, as opposed to incandescent
and fluorescent bulbs.
Notwithstanding the U.S.-based and worldwide phasing out of incandescent
bulbs in recent years, is it really worth your time to consider the cost-saving
potential of switching to LED lighting from arguably more energy-efficient
halogen incandescent and compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) being
manufactured these days? Absolutely. You can stretch your dollar while
lighting your home with an equal, if not superior, amount of light. Currently,
you can opt between LED bulbs, halogen incandescent bulbs, and compact
fluorescent bulbs. Why do LED bulbs outrank the other two?
Old-generation incandescent bulbs produced a lot of light – but 90% of its
energy expenditure is actually wasted on heat, not light, production. The
next-generation incandescent bulbs, or halogen bulbs, include a halogen
gas-containing capsule which serves to enhance the bulb’s light producing
efficiency. These halogen bulbs meet the minimum requirement set by the
federal government for energy efficiency, but why choose this when you
have an even more energy-efficient option?
Compact fluorescent lights or lamps are the curly descendants of their
straight and long fluorescent forebears. They consume much less energy
(only one-fourth of the energy of old-style incandescents or one-third the
energy of halogen incandescents), yet their lifespan is 10 times longer than
a traditional incandescent’s. CFLs pay for themselves in ¾ of a year, plus
gaining you additional monthly savings thereafter. On the downside, CFLs
and older fluorescent lights contain mercury, so they must be recycled once
their lifespan is up.
Superior to other light sources, LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs are
comparably the most energy- and cost-efficient lighting technology. LED

2. bulbs that have the ENERGY STAR rating use up only one-fifth to one-fourth
the energy of traditional incandescent, yet their lifespan reaches up to 25
times longer than the latter. In comparison to halogen incandescents, LED
bulbs still come out ahead, using a quarter to a third of the energy of
halogen incandescents, while lasting 8-25 times longer. To illustrate, the
lifespan of incandescent bulbs is about 2,000 hours. The LED bulb’s lifespan
can reach 50,000 hours – or up to 25 times the latter.
While the initial cash outlay for an LED bulb can be high (due to special
packaging materials as well as LED dye degradation), your savings in the
long run far outweigh the first cost. As already indicated, LED bulbs have a
superior lifespan and efficient energy consumption compared to other
lighting sources. In time, a greater LED product supply will drive down
market prices, redounding to better economies for the consumers.
For a more detailed computation of potential savings with energy-efficient
lighting, consider these three things: electrical consumption, electricity cost,
and the amount of time the lights are on.
Electrical consumption – A 2010 survey (tapping more than 500 mid-size,
southern Florida homes) revealed that on average, 47 incandescent bulbs
were used per American households, with wattages ranging from 25 to 100
each bulb. For simplification purposes, let’s average out that range to 60
watts per bulb, giving us a total wattage of 2,820 watts per household (or
60 watts X 47 bulbs). In contrast, a 9.5-watt LED bulb can generate light
equal to that of a 60-watt incandescent bulb, so the light energy savings are
remarkable in comparison: 9.5 watts X 47 bulbs = only 446.5 watts –
thereby saving the household 2,373.5 watts of light.
Electricity cost and Lights-on time – As of 2015 in the U.S., the cost of
electricity, on average, was 11.88 cents per KWh (kilowatt hour). Therefore,
if you use up 2,373.5 watts of light an hour (or 2.37 KWh), you’re paying
roughly 28.20 cents an hour. If an average household uses light for 6 hours
per day, 30 days a month, and 12 months a year, that redounds to nearly
$610 a year – just for your lights. Compare that to an LED switch, and you
get: 0.4465 KWh X 6 hours X 30 days X 12 months = $114.58 a year –
giving you $495 dollars in savings. The price difference is certainly
noteworthy.