Chooseday’s Choice ~ energy efficient or incandescent bulbs
By switching to more energy efficient light bulbs households can save energy, help the environment and reduce their energy bills. The EU phase-out of incandescent light bulbs began in 2009 when 100W bulbs stopped being sold, it was then the turn of the 75W light bulb and finally all remaining clear incandescent bulbs on the market, including 40W and 25W varieties were phased out in September 2012.
Incandescent light bulbs are incredibly wasteful as 90% of the electricity they use produces heat rather than light. The use of traditional light bulbs can account for as much as one-fifth of household electricity consumption. The electricity used over the lifetime of a single incandescent bulb costs 5 to 10 times the original purchase price of the bulb itself. The average home using all incandescent light bulbs spends up to €292 per year on light bulbs.
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) use 80% less electricity and last up to 10 times longer than ordinary light bulbs. The average home changing to all ‘A’ rated CFL’s could save up to €143.88 per year.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) use up to 85% less electricity than the standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 12 times as long as the traditional incandescent light bulbs. They offer the advantages of CFLs — lower power consumption and longer lifetimes but without the downside of toxic mercury.
Although a little more costly than CFL’s you would make your money back in one year through energy savings. A standard 50W Halogen spot light would cost about € 10.57 per year in electricity charges. If replaced with a 7W LED spotlight it would have a comparable running cost of just € 1.37 per year. *This represents a saving of €9.20 in electricity costs alone per bulb in just 1 year.
This adds up to a substantial savings when you take into account the number of Halogen GU10 spot lights that are installed in kitchens, hallways and bathrooms of most homes today.
You Choose!
How many Halogen down lighters have you in installed in your home?
* based on an electricity cost of 19.31 cent per unit (kWh) and the light bulb switched on for 3 hours per day for 1 year.
I changed all my light bulbs to energy saving bulbs over the last year. It’s only when you have all the bulbs in your home changed that you begin to see a difference on your electricity bills. Another small step for me to become more energy efficient and eco friendly.
We changed all ours too Bernie. It does make a difference and every little helps in our quest to reduce our energy use.