As you walk the aisles of a hardware store, the price label on those LED bulbs click this link can catch you off guard. Four dollars for a single bulb? The old incandescent was far cheaper. But that sticker only tells part of the story.
An LED bulb puts most of its power into producing light. About 90 percent of the electricity an incandescent bulb draws is lost as heat, which is why they're so hot after you've left them on for an hour. LEDs run cool, and that difference is reflected in your power bill - month after month.
Think about a house with 25 fixtures. Switch all of those bulbs to LEDs and your lighting energy falls by 70 to 80 percent. The kitchen and living room pay you back fastest, since the lights stay on for hours. But even the hall bathroom bulb you turn on twice a day will pay for itself in time.
Lifespan is just as important. An average LED lasts anywhere from 15,000 to 50,000 hours. At four hours a day, that adds up to a decade or more before the bulb needs replacing. Say goodbye to the ladder and the monthly trip to change that one dead bulb sitting directly over the staircase.
Here's a snag worth knowing about. Bargain LEDs from unknown makers sometimes fail early thanks to faulty drivers, the small circuit boards inside the base. Stick with brands that list lumen output and color temperature and back their bulbs with a real warranty.
Light dimmers are worth a brief mention. Many LEDs do not work well with old dimmer switches, and that shows up as flickering or a buzzing sound. Check the packaging for "dimmable" and pair the bulb with a compatible dimmer switch.
Add it up over five years. You buy fewer replacement bulbs, use less energy, and give your air conditioning less summer heat to fight. The shelf price of that "high tech" little bulb is only a fraction of what the old kind costs you in the long run.