Energy Savings

Is LED lighting a good investment?

By April 11, 2019 No Comments
Do LED Lights Save Energy

For most people an investment means getting back more than you invest, so the purchase cost of your LED lighting must be recovered first in electricity saving, then the remaining savings become essentially your profit. That’s a very simple way of looking at the investment.

LED lighting products over the past decade have dropped in price significantly and at the same time their efficacy rating have improved, both having a direct positive affect on your return on investment. Its common to see comparisons of LED lamps pitched against incandescent lighting, a true fight against old versus new but the odds are stacked massively in the favor of LED and the reality is there are not that many incandescent bulbs still being used. Most people accepted and adopted compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) ugly but more efficient and longer lasting than incandescent.

To calculate your savings is simple a 13-watt CFL lamp running for 5 hours per day 365 days per year will use 23.75KW/H at the national average kilowatt hour cost of 11 cents (home owner) your annual energy cost will be $2.60

In comparison an LED lamp using 8 watts will produce the same number of lumens as the 13 watt CFL but is 38% more efficient. For the same hours of operation your cost would be $1.60 making the electricity savings an even $1.00

So that’s easy to see, but what about the length of time each will last, lets start with the LED lamp that has a rated life of 35,000 hours (19 years 25hr/dy). Assuming electricity costs remain constant what’s the total lifetime costs.

Initial lamp cost = $3.99

Electricity usage = $30.80

Total cost of ownership = $34.79

So lets calculate the 13 watt CFL cost and take into account these typically only last around 5000 hours , so you will need to purchase 7 CFL lamps to reach the 35,000 hour life of the LED.

Lamp cost 7 x $1.20 = $8.40

Electricity usage = $50.05

Total cost of ownership = $58.45

The LED is the winner saving $23.66 (40%) over its projected life, bearing in mind electricity prices tend to continue to rise, making these savings very conservative.

Most homes and businesses have a significant quantity of lights so adopting LED lamps clearly makes very attractive savings. Using the same example how fast would you return your original investment in one LED lamp purchased at $3.99. The answer is 4 years, making the following 15 years savings your profit.

Its not just the electricity savings and extended life that makes LED a great investment, the quality of light produced is superior to fluorescent, there is no flicker created which fatigues our eyes. Fluorescent lamps produce Ultra violet light and Infra-red light, both are harmful, and LED eliminates both of those problems. All electronic devices produce heat (wasted electricity) so using less electricity the LED produces less heat, considerably less heat than a CFL contributing to lower cooling cost in summer months. Lastly and importantly LED lamps won’t harm the environment in the same way fluorescent lamps do. As part of their design Fluorescent lamps contain harmful and toxic chemicals namely mercury and phosphorous in order to create visible light, so at the end of their life these need to be disposed of correctly to avoid the toxins finding their way into our environment and polluting the planet.

With legacy lighting ranging from small 13-watt CFL lamps up to 1500 watt Metal Halides illuminating large Parking lots and sports stadiums the energy savings, maintenance cost reduction and improved visual acuity afforded by LED lighting make the time to change TODAY.

Contact vootu and speak with a certified energy consultant to find the right solution for your LED lighting upgrade and maximize this opportunity to save electricity.