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LEDs have been sold for decades now, but even today it is rare to find households running completely on LED lighting fixtures. However, they are getting more accessible, cheaper, and more commonplace, and for good reason.
The first and most important reason for the growing popularity of LEDs is their reduced energy usage. LEDs produce light in a way that uses far less energy than other lighting technologies, like CFL. The increase in efficiency is quite high, especially when compared to old and still commonplace lights like incandescent bulbs. It could even be as high as 85 percent, and at least 5 percent more efficient than the plasma tube approach.
For instance, a single 60-watt incandescent bulb in one fixture can take up 525 kWh every year. On the other hand, an LED lamp in the same fixture and wiring setup can take up around 65 kWh per year. The reduction in carbon dioxide production is also quite high, and this is just for one bulb.
Energy efficiency apart, LEDs are also long-lasting light solutions for a household. A good LED light bulb can last for as long as 20 years without changing.
LEDs are solid state lights, which is very different from fluorescent and incandescent lights. This seemingly small difference makes LED lights last as long as 30,000 hours while incandescent lights last only 750 hours.
This extra time does come at a cost though. LED lights are generally costlier by incandescent and fluorescent bulbs by a huge margin. The average 60-watt LED light generally costs around $100, and the ones with lower outputs can cost around $60-80. In comparison, a regular incandescent or fluorescent bulb only costs a few dollars.
Does this ultimately balance out the savings you get in energy bills? Amazingly, the answer is no. even at $100 per bulb, LED lighting still saves a significant amount of money in the long run because of their long lives. Replacements are only needed every decade or so, whereas incandescent and florescent bulbs often need to be replace within a year or two. Still, the upfront costs needed for a complete switch is extremely prohibitive; not everyone can shell out thousands of dollars for a lighting change.
How much savings
There are several online LED Savings calculators that help you estimate the cost savings with full LED lighting. In general, the annual energy bill at a home can come up to more than $2,000. Out of this, around 12 percent goes for lighting online. This amounts to around $240. If you use incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, you can expect around 95 percent of the energy consumed to be wasted.
A switch to LED lights completely can cut this average lighting bill by 75 percent, bringing it down from $240 to $60. The more expensive LEDs last longer and are even more efficient (as much as 90 percent more). This can bring down the average annual lighting cost to $24.
Editor's Note: Amy is a guest blogger interested in writing energy saving related article. She mostly prefers to write LED and other energy saving electronic products.
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