We still come across a lot of people, and businesses, who aren’t sold on making the switch from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents or LEDs. When comparing the price tag on an incandescent bulb to a fluorescent or LED option, most of us instantly think it’s the cheapest option. Think again!
For most of us, switching from incandescent bulbs to CFLs will save a good chunk of money. Lighting accounts for roughly 20 percent of the electric bill in the average U.S. home or office.
Incandescent bulbs have a typical lifespan of 750 to 1,000 hours. An equivalent CFL can last between 6,000 and 10,000 hours. If you do the math, that means for every one CFL you buy you would need to buy nearly 10 incandescent bulbs. Those savings, coupled with the reduced energy consumption, will save you a lot of money. In fact, some CFLs can cut the lighting portion of your energy bill by approximately 75 percent!
If you’re still not sold, take a second to think about this amazing fact. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road.
| 60W Traditional Incandescent | 43W Energy-Saving Incandescent |
15W CFL | 12W LED | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy $ Saved (%) | – | ~25% | ~75% | ~75-80% |
| Annual Energy Cost* | $4.80 | $3.50 | $1.20 | $1.00 |
| Bulb Life | 1000 hours | 1000 to 3000 hours | 10,000 hours | 25,000 hours |
Be on the lookout for LEDs to take off soon as well. The initial cost is still a little too high for most people. Once the cost of the lamps goes down, however, they will be saving all of us a lot of money. I’m sure everyone likes the sound of that.
If you want to get a better estimate of how much you can save by making the switch to fluorescent bulbs, check out this really cool light bulb savings calculator.
*Table is from www.energysavers.gov
