LED Lights

LEDs are a type of solid state lighting that is more efficient than most incandescent or fluorescent lighting because it emits light in a specific direction without a great deal of heat loss.

LEDs vs. CFLs

An average incandescent light bulb lasts between 1000 and 2000 hours, or about 42 to 84 days (if they are on 24 hours per day).

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last about eight to fifteen times longer than incandescent light bulbs. ENERGY STAR rated CFL must have a rated lifetime of 6,000 hours or greater, though the average lifetime for an ENERGY STAR CFL is 10,000 hours.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) last between 25,000 and 100,000 hours. ENERGY STAR rated LEDs last 35 to 50 times longer than incandescent light bulbs and 2 to 5 times longer than fluorescent lighting.

On August 23, 2012, Consumer Reports released a study, which found that 90% of Americans have replaced incandescent lighting with energy efficient lighting, including compact fluorescent lighting (CFLs) and LEDs.

However, Consumer Reports also found that nearly 75% of consumers have purchased compact fluorescent lighting, making them much more popular than LEDs. Similarly, Precision Paragon found that 84.3% of energy efficient lighting professionals believed that they will predominantly use linear fluorescent lighting for relighting projects in 2012, while 10.3% will predominantly use light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The main reason that CFLs are more popular than LEDs is the price. Consumer Reports found many good CFLs that range from $1.25 to $18, while LEDs ranged from $25 to $60. While the upfront cost is a barrier to LEDs, the report found that even the $25 LED model lasts 75% longer than an incandescent and can save $130 over it's 23 year lifetime. In comparison, a CFL saves about $60 over its lifetime.

However, LEDs are predicted to decrease in price over the next decade, which could make them more competitive with CFLs. According to Pike Research's study, LEDs are expected to displace more than 52% of the global market for lamps in commercial buildings by 2021, thanks to decreasing prices and improving efficiencies.

Payback Period of an LED

The payback period of replacing an incandescent light bulb with an LED will depend on the cost of electricity in your area and the cost of the LED. The payback period will be shorter if the price of electricity is high or if the cost of the LED is low.

Let’s say electricity in your region costs $0.10 per kilowatt hour (kWh). You replace a traditional 60 Watt (W) incandescent light bulb with a Phillips EnduraLED 12 W LED (learn more here), which is an ENERGY STAR rated equivalent.


ENERGY STAR rated LEDs must use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lighting. The Phillips EnduraLED 12.5 W LED is actually shown to be about 80% more efficient than the 60 W incandescent light bulb (since 12.5 W is about 20% of 60 W).

If you use the incandescent light bulb 3 hours a day, it will use 180 Watt-hours per day (60 W x 3 hours). If you do this 7 days a week for 365 days a year, it will use 65,700 Watt-hours per year, or 65.7 kWh (divide the Watt-hours by 1,000).


At $.10 per kilowatt hour, the incandescent lamp would cost $6.57 to run for 3 hours a day for an entire year.

Since the LED uses about 80% less electricity, it would cost about 80% less to run 3 hours a day for one year. At $.10 per kilowatt hour, the 12.W LED would only cost about $1.37 per year. This is a savings of $5.20 per year.

On Amazon, the Phillips 12.W EnduraLED costs about $30. At a savings of $5.20 per year, it would take about 5.8 years for the LED to pay for itself (if it were used for 3 hours per day).

Since the Phillips EnduraLED lasts 25,000 hours on average, it would last about 22.8 years if it were used for 3 hours per day. This means the LED would last 17 years beyond the payback period.

ENERGY STAR LEDs

When choosing LED lights for your home, you may want to choose ENERGY STAR qualified LEDs. These LED lights have passed a variety of tests that demonstrate that they save money and meet certain standards for quality and durability.

According to ENERGY STAR, their qualified LED lighting meets certain standards, such as:
- At least a three year warranty
- Use 75% less energy than incandescent lighting
- Last 35 to 50 times longer than incandescent lighting and about 2 to 5 times longer than fluorescent lighting
- Light comes on instantly when turned on
- Lights do not flicker when dimmed

See ENERGY STAR’s complete list of criteria for qualifying LEDs for residential applications.

How to Choose an LED

Also, when choosing LEDs, pay attention to these 4 ways to avoid common LED lighting disasters from Consumer Reports:

1. Avoid dim bulbs by purchasing ones with higher lumens. For example, a 60 Watt (W) incandescent bulb should be replaced with an energy saving lightbulb with at least 800 lumens.

2. Avoid weird light colors by choosing the right Kelvin (K) number - higher K numbers mean cooler colored light. Warm, incandescent light is about 2700 Kelvins.

3. Choose lighting with a higher CRI to avoid unflattering light.

4. Avoid early burnout by checking if the bulb works in the fixture you're using. If bulb does burn out early, bring it back to the manufacturer or retailer.

How to Recycle LEDs

Once you are finished using your LED, you should dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way, if possible.

LEDs are recyclable. Over 95% of an LED can be recycled. They do not contain mercury, and therefore can be recycled more safely and easily than compact fluorescent lighting, or CFLs.
However, the real question here is how to recycle LEDs, because in many locations, it is not a traditional curbside-pickup item.

First, you should contact your local recycling center and ask how to recycle LEDs in your area. In some towns or cities, you may be able to put the LEDs in a curbside pickup bin, while others may have a special collection, drop-off location, or other protocol for recycling LEDs.

If you cannot recycle the LEDs through your local recycling center, you can try taking the used LEDs back to the store or company where you purchased them. Many Home Depot and IKEA stores have recycling programs that allow you to drop off old light bulbs.

To find the nearest place for recycling your LEDs, you can use Earth911's website, which allows you to type in the item that you want to recycle ("light bulbs") and your location. It then lists the recycling centers that accept those items in order of proximity to your location.