By now we’ve all had to change a light bulb or two in our lifetimes. You may have even realized you can save money by getting energy efficient light bulbs.  At some point we’ve all had to choose between the different types available. Incandescent (traditional light bulbs), CFL (Compact Florescent Light), or LED (Light Emitting Diode) Bulbs are all currently offered. But which ones are really going to save us the most money? You probably already know, they can all be bought with the same light output. Each one also come in multiple color temps. The real difference between these light bulbs though, is the amount of money they can save you over time.

Which energy efficient light bulbs will save you money

The average lifespan of an Incandescent bulb is about 1000 hours. So for comparison*, we’ll use a thousand hours for all bulbs. An 60 Watt Incandescent bulb for 1000 hours will use about $6.48 of electricity. A 15 Watt CFL will cost about $1.64 for 1000 hours, while running a 12 Watt LED bulb will only cost $1.37. Therefore replacing one incandescent with an LED can save as much as $5.21 per bulb. If the average house has 30-50 light bulbs in their house, that’s a total savings of about $260.27. Furthermore, consider that an LED bulb lasts 25 times longer than an incandescent. LED lifespans come in around 25,000 hours of run time. Consequently, that’s a savings of $6,506.75 over the lifetime of one LED bulb. In conclusion, you can switch your lights out for more energy efficient ones to start reaping your rewards today.

In addition to choosing more energy efficient light bulbs, be sure to check out our tip to Save Money by Unplugging Unused Electronics to save even more electricity.

*Energy use and cost based on 2 hrs/day of usage, with an electricity rate of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, shown in U.S. dollars. Source