How Much Could Energy Efficient Light Bulbs Save You?
Did you know that there are approximately 650 million light bulbs in the UK? The majority of these are the old inefficient, incandescent bulbs – sometimes known as filament bulbs as they have a filament of wire which emits both heat and light when powered up. The trouble is that these bulbs, quite literally, produce more heat than light.
These inefficient bulbs are being phased out in the UK and will be replaced by more energy efficient bulbs over the course of the next few years. Apart from some specialist low wattage bulbs, you won’t find incandescent bulbs in UK shops any more.
The most common replacement option is the Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL). However, LED bulbs are even more efficient, and these are becoming more and more common.
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
CFL light bulbs are what most people think of as energy saving light bulbs. As the name suggests, they are simply smaller versions of the fluorescent strip lights that you will find in offices and public buildings up and down the country.
They cost a little more than old fashioned filament light bulbs – although costs have come down a lot over the last few years – but they produce more light for the same energy usage and they last a lot longer.
These bulbs will save you money. Within a year of use, the increased purchase cost will be completely compensated for (and then some). Thereafter, every day that you use your energy saving bulb, it will save you money.
Here’s a quick summary:
- CFL light bulbs typically cost more than old fashioned light bulbs (but not that much more).
- CFL light bulbs typically use around 75% less energy for the same level of illumination.
- CFL light bulbs typically last between 8 and 10 times as long as incandescent filament bulbs.
- Most CFL bulbs are not suitable for use with dimmer switches.
If you replace an old fashioned bulb with a CFL bulb of the same equivalent illumination, you will typically save around £ 3 per annum. You can expect to save £ 55 over the lifetime of the bulb (source – Energy Saving Trust). Obviously, if you were to change all of the light bulbs in your family home, the savings would be proportionally larger.
LED Light Bulbs
LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs are the next step in the evolution of the humble light bulb. Individual LEDs are quite small, so LED bulbs contain a number of these grouped together.
LED lights are still, relatively speaking, quite expensive to buy – but they use even less electricity than CFL bulbs and last even longer. LED bulbs can last for a whopping 50,000 hours of use. If you use one for an average of 8 hours a day, it should last for a little over 17 years.
There are plenty of spotlight type LED lamps available on the market, and you will increasingly see more standard bulbs which can be used as a like for like swap out with either a filament bulb or a CFL bulb.
In terms of savings, were you to replace a 50W downlighter spot with a 6W LED equivalent, you would save £ 4 a year – and would expect to save something in the region of £ 70 before it was time to replace the bulb.
Hopefully you have found this post interesting and informative. If you’re interested to learn how you can reduce you utility bills, why not check out this page – Utility Warehouse Discount Club – and see how much money you could save?
