How Much Can You Save with Energy Efficient CFL or LED Lighting?

Replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFL (compact fluorescent light) or LED (light emitting diode) bulbs can reduce your power bill by over $200 a year for an average home with 30 bulbs.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• Understanding Watts vs. Lumens for Home Lighting (article)
• CFL Bulbs: A Bright Idea for Going Green (article)
• LED Lighting 101 (article)
• LED Light Bulbs Are Energy Efficient Eco-Friendly Choice (video)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Danny Lipford: If you really want some immediate energy savings, it’s time to go shopping.

Allen Lyle: Now that may sound like a contradiction, to go shopping to save money; but if you’re replacing your incandescent bulbs, it’s money in your pocket. If you were just to compare the price of the bulbs, that doesn’t make sense. Thirty-seven cents, $4.50 for your compact fluorescent, $24 for a light-emitting diode, LED. This is a ridiculous price, by the way. Watch, it’ll come down though.

But let’s look at the overall cost. How much does it cost to operate those bulbs? Average home in the U.S., 60-watt bulbs, 30 bulbs in each house.

For an incandescent, you’re looking at about 3,200 kilowatt-hours every year. That represents $325 of your annual power bill. With the CFLs, same amount of bulbs, it’s only going to be about 760 kilowatt-hours, that’s about 75 bucks a year. That’s not bad.

For those LEDs, are you ready for this, only 330 kilowatt-hours for all 30 of those bulbs. That’s about 32 bucks for the entire year. Listen, you want a really good idea? Ditch those incandescents, go for the CFL or the LED.