£400 cut in home energy bills shows why LED lighting is the smart choice

News that a retired couple in the UK have reduced their energy bills by £400 a year by fitting LED lighting underlines why this technology is the smart choice.

In an article in the Telegraph, Yorkshire pensioners Pete and Linda Powell describe how they made the decision to replace halogen bulbs with LEDs three years ago to test whether they could save money.

The couple live in a five-bedroom home with many light fittings, including chandeliers and spent £500 on the LED bulbs but this was quickly repaid in just over a year and they are now saving £100 a quarter.

The savings are impressive and worth noting particularly as the couple already had lower energy halogen bulbs in their home.

Mr Powell, 70, is quoted in the article:

“We’re pensioners now, so any money we can save is very important. We were astounded at how much we were saving thanks to the bulbs. They look no different to what was taken out – they’re perhaps a little whiter than before but there’s not a huge difference.”

 

The Powells’ story chimes with our data and feedback from LED installations, where the purchase costs are covered quickly by reduced electricity consumption as LEDs only use a fraction of that consumed by traditional lighting.

The savings mount over many years – a decade or more – as quality LED bulbs have a very long lifespan – up to 50,000 hours compared with average 1,000 hours for incandescent bulbs and 3,000 hours for halogen.

The main thing to remember here is that not all LED bulbs are the same. The market is flooded now with ultra-cheap versions but these are often of very poor manufacturing quality and, according to Which magazine, fail more quickly.

The price of LED lighting is coming down and it is well worth investing in quality LEDs from trusted brands.

Work out your LED light savings:

https://www.savemoneycutcarbon.com/learn-and-save/work-led-light-savings/

It’s also true that LED bulbs in the past had a bit of a reputation for poor light quality, either too dim or too bright but this is no longer the case with quality brands. The range is broad to cover most settings, from warm to bright daylight.

Checking the bulb’s specification is important as this will be a good guide for what’s needed. The Colour Corrected Temperature (CCT) figure, measured in kelvins, is fair marker with the lower figures indicating a warmer light.

You will see that all our LED products have the colour temperature as well as the equivalent wattage, compared with traditional incandescent bulbs to make it easy to make the right choice.

There is an LED solution for screw, bayonet and pin fittings and the widest range of types to suit most home settings, including classic bulbs, downlights, spotlights, tubes and candle bulbs.