The cost for purchase and powering each bulb type (per year) is:
LED (average cost £6 each, average lifespan 50,000 hours)
CFL (average cost £5 each, average lifespan 8,000 hours)
Incandescent (average cost £1 each, average lifespan 1,200 hours) Note: no longer available to buy in UK outlets.
In order from left to right – incandescent bulb, CFL, LED
In an average home using 25 bulbs, if you upgraded five 60W incandescent bulbs to five 15W CFL bulbs, you could save £38 per year = 127kg of CO₂.
In an average home using 25 bulbs, if you upgraded five 50W halogen spotlights to five 3.5W LED bulbs (£2.00 each), you could save £29 in year one, then £39.00 per year for many years after that = 130kg of CO₂.
It would take 42 old incandescent bulbs to last as long as just ONE new LED bulb, which over its 50,000 hours average life, would save you £405 (at todays electricity prices).
It would take 21 halogen spotlight bulbs to last as long as just ONE LED spotlight bulb, which over its 50,000 hours average life, would save you £262 (at todays electricity prices).
If every one of the 25 million homes in the UK replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an LED bulb, it would save £230 million per year, equivalent to 700 million kg of CO₂ (the same annual emissions as released by about 120,000 cars).
Look for the lowest wattage bulbs for the lumen level required. This information will be on the packaging or website.
Use LED bulbs wherever possible and start saving money immediately!