How Much Electricity Do Your Lights Use?

How Much Electricity Do YOUR Lights Use?

by

SelJones

Recent years have seen significant developments in light bulb technology and, in particular, the energy efficiency of light bulbs. Traditionally, the choice of lighting was, generally, limited to incandescent bulbs found in most light fittings, with some fluorescent tubes found occasionally in the kitchen.

Being the only choice, incandescent bulbs were installed everywhere and energy saving was limited to switching them off when not in use, or using a lower wattage bulb. As we ll see, these bulbs were particularly inefficient in terms of energy consumption. This was mainly due to the bulb s use of the energy it consumes 90% of which is transferred to heat, and only 10% to light.

Compact Fluorescents

The introduction of Compact Florescent Light bulbs (CFLs) was the first step in reducing the amount of energy needed to light homes and work places all over the world. Generally called energy saving bulbs they are more expensive than incandescent, but pay for themselves through the savings on electricity bills.

LEDs

Recently, the introduction of LED lights gives a further option, and one with significantly less energy requirements. LED lights are expensive to purchase, but the reduced consumption, and the different types of bulb and light suggest they will be a long-term solution to reducing energy demands from lighting.

Energy Used

The numbers clearly illustrate the significant differences between the bulbs:

A 60 watt incandescent bulb, run for 100 hours will use 6 kilowatts of energy.

A CFL bulb providing the same amount of light uses around 15 watts of energy therefore 100 hours consumes 1.5 kilowatts.

An LED bulb improves further on these numbers needing just 8 watts to produce the same amount of light as a 60 watt incandescent bulb, the LED light uses just 0.8 kilowatts for every 100 hours of use.

Based purely on the energy consumption (i.e. disregarding the purchase piece of the bulbs), LED lights are, therefore, over 7 times more efficient than the equivalent incandescent.

Cost in Money Terms

Electricity bills provide information about how much a household or workplace is being charges for each kilowatt being used. Using the above figures, it is easy to calculate how much the bulbs in the house are costing.

If you use a bulb for 100 hours in a week and electricity costs 15c per unit then:

1 incandescent traditional filament bulb will cost you $0.90 per week

1 CFL bulb will cost you $0.23 per week

1 LED bulb will cost you $0.12 per week

In addition, the above numbers all relate to a single bulb. Many light fittings require two, three or more bulbs to complete the look of the fitting. Many rooms have down lighting with a series of bulbs being used at any one time. Each bulb uses the same amount of electricity and it s worth considering if all of the lights are absolutely necessary, for the work being done in the room.

Over a year the electricity costs of your light bulbs mounts up:

10 incandescent bulbs cost you $0.90 x 10 x 52 $468

10 CFL bulbs cost you $0.23 x 10 x 52 $119

10 LED bulbs cost you $0.12 x 10 x 52 $62

Oh, and don t electricity prices go up every year, too?

Fewer Replacements

The energy saving is not just limited to the reduction in electricity consumption. Incandescent bulbs have a much shorter lifespan then the LED and CFL bulbs. CFL bulbs last eight times longer than the incandescent equivalent LEDs last fifty times longer (around 25 years).

These lifespans reduce the demand for production, easing the energy used in the manufacture and distribution of the bulbs providing an additional reduction in energy demands. It is estimated that the combination of manufacture, use and replacement of bulbs, LEDs contribute 90% fewer CO2 emissions compared to the manufacture and use of incandescent bulbs.

Sam, the author, knows how important it is to find the

best electricity prices

but has just switched all his CFL bulbs for LED ones to make some big savings.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com