Energy Efficient Lighting

Save Money on Your Power Bill

You can save on your power bill by using energy efficient lighting. If you are still using incandescent light bulbs, switching to LEDs (light emitting diodes) is a way to cut your energy bill.

If you have ever bought a low energy light bulb and been disappointed by the level of brightness it gives out, you may have picked a bulb with too small a lumen value. With incandescent bulbs, we used watts to determine the brightness of a bulb, even though that measurement referred to power consumption rather than brightness. Now all bulbs come with information about the bulb’s lumens – a measure of brightness. The higher the lumens, the brighter the light.

For example,

• To replace a 75W incandescent bulb, look for an LED bulb that gives you about 1100 lumens.
• Replace a 60W bulb with an LED bulb that gives you about 800 lumens.

The other thing to consider is the light appearance of the bulb, measured by correlated color temperature (CCT) on the Kelvin (K) scale, from warm to cool.

Most bulbs will advertise color temperature on the package.  This will tell you how warm or cool the color of the light is.

• Warm White (up to 2900K) – This temperature range is similar to the standard incandescent bulb in terms of color tone and warmth. Most people find this range comforting, and LEDs with this color temperature are perfect for family rooms, dining areas and bedrooms.
• Cool White (3000K to 4900K) – Bright and crisp tone that is ideal for use in work areas, home offices, garages, and basements. This is more a neutral white light range, giving a balance between warm and soft color light.
• Daylight (5000K and up) – Crisp, intense light that has a slightly bluish white tone. This type of light is frequently used for outdoor lighting, commercial or retail spaces, security lighting and so on.

Lighting Facts per bulb: Lumens are a measurement of light output. The higher the lumens, the brighter the bulb. Correlated Color Temperature is a scale used to measure the color of light. Lighting generally ranges from 2700K – 6500K. Watts are a measure of power consumption. The lower the wattage, the less energy the bulb uses.

Estimated Yearly Energy cost for an 800 lumens bulb: $1.02

Life (based on 3 hrs/day): 22.8 years

Light Appearance: Warm and 2700 K watts

Energy Used: 8.5 watts