SAVE MILLIONS WITH ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHT BULBS
The last time I had to buy new light bulbs, I thought I knew what I was doing. Before leaving home, I noted the wattage and the type of light bulb. I get to Home Depot only to find there’s an entire aisle of light bulbs from which to choose. I walk up and down the aisle at least three times. I caved, turned to someone who looked like they worked at Home Depot(wearing the Home Depot apron), “Excuse me, sir, can you please help me pick out a light bulb?” Seriously, it was embarrassing.
Choices for Light bulbs
We’ve narrowed it down to the Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) bulbs and Incandescent light bulbs.
How to buy light bulbs
When buying a light bulb we often buy based on the wattage. But the wattage is actually a measure of electricity, not the brightness of a bulb. The amount of light a bulb generates is measured in lumens.
An incandescent 60-watt bulb, for example, gives off 800 lumens of light. An LED light bulb can deliver the same amount of light using as little as 10 watts. Since an LED draws on less electricity, it is less expensive to run. CFL light bulbs give off 800 lumens using 15 watts.
You can buy an 8 watt LED light bulb¹ for $4.97. It’ll use about 329 kWh over the course of one year. You can expect to pay your utility company $32.85. LED light bulbs have a 20-year life span.
An Incandescent light bulb using 60 watts or 3,285 kWh per year with a life span of about 1 year, and you can expect to pay $328.59 per year.
A CFL light bulb costs about $5.97, delivers 8,000 hours of light, uses 14 watts or 767 kWh per year and you can expect to pay $76.65 per year. CFL light bulbs have an estimated life span of 9 years. Some CFL bulbs can be used with dimmer switches.
Energy Star Light bulbs can save millions
The Environmental Protection Agency says that if every household replaced just one incandescent bulb with an “Energy Star”-rated LED or CFL (compact fluorescent), we would save close to $700 million per year in energy costs.
Is it any wonder we as consumers are confused about which light bulb we should buy? There are so many types of bulbs with different price points and life spans now on the market.
For even more information about light bulbs — the different types available, how long they last and what they cost over the life of the bulb — check out our guide to changing light bulbs¹.
Save Millions with Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
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