Could Energy Efficient Bulbs Cut Your Power Bill?

What kind of light bulbs do you use in your house? If you said a type of energy efficient light bulb, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs, LED light bulbs or Xenon light bulbs, congratulations – you’re way ahead of the game! If you still use incandescent bulbs, listen up: this post is for you!

Incandescent light bulbs have remained largely unchanged since they were developed by Thomas Edison in 1880 – basically energy travels through a filament, causing it to heat up and glow. This was revolutionary when it was invented, but now incandescent bulbs are so inefficient that many governments are actually outlawing them! Fortunately, there are numerous, highly energy efficient light bulb alternatives out there.

Types of Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Compact fluorescent energy efficient light bulbs (CFL bulbs) – compact fluorescent bulbs are easily recognizable by their coiled or tube shaped appearance. While early versions of the light bulb were limited to a sickening, bright white light, newer iterations can achieve a glow similar to (and in many cases better than) familiar incandescent lights.

While CFL bulbs have higher upfront costs than incandescent, the cost is immediately offset, both by energy savings and bulb life – CFL bulbs use just one third of the energy that incandescent lights use and they last 10 times longer! In fact, a single 18-watt CFL bulb used in place of a 75-watt incandescent bulb will save about 570 kWh over its lifetime – at eight cents per kWh, that equates to $45 in energy savings per bulb over the life of each bulb!

Xenon energy efficient light bulbs – while not commonly used for primary interior lighting, Xenon light bulbs are often used for task lighting in homes – cabinet lights, desk lamps and picture lights are often seen now with Xenon bulbs. Xenon bulbs can also be installed with dimmers, further increasing their energy efficiency. Xenon bulbs have an extremely long life, lasting anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 hours!

LED energy efficient light bulbs – the up-and-comer in the high efficiency light bulb world, LED lights are becoming increasingly popular in homes due to their good light quality and long life. While still one of the more expensive lighting options, LED lights offset their high costs through a variety of energy saving features. For one thing, the each LED light bulb will last between 50,000 and 60,000 hours – that’s six years or more!  In addition, LED lights use only 2-10 watts of energy – 1/3 the energy usage of CFL bulbs and 1/30 that of incandescent! New technology is evolving to allow full dimmability of LED lights, making them more efficient that ever.