themoneyshed
There are now more bulbs than ever when it comes to deciding how to light up your house. Halogen, LED, CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) etc. There really is something for everyone no matter what the light situation in question. One of the biggest deciding factors when it comes to choosing your bulb type will no doubt be price but with so many options it can be hard to know which way to go.
First off you will need to consider the type of fitting. This is sadly something I have messed up on more times than I can count. Often I would go to the supermarket 99% sure I know the type of fitting I need and purchase a bayonet bulb and then come home to realise the fitting is for a screw one!
My advice would be either take the existing bulb that you are replacing with you to the store or take a photo of the light fitting in question so you don’t end up doing a ‘return of shame’ back to the supermarket!
The upfront costs of the different types of bulbs will be what you need to consider next. While many people will go for the cheapest option with the mindset of ‘it will do for now’ you can actually save yourself hundreds of pounds by putting LED lighting panels in your home or office
So what is the cost of running a typical 700+ bulb if you ran it for a whole year for a few hours each day?
- CFL annual running cost £2.04
- Halogen annual running cost £8.42
- LED annual running cost £1.71
As you can see there is quite a substantial difference between the different bulb prices but why are they each so different in their costs?
CFL bulbs tend to always be the cheapest to buy and are sold everywhere from Amazon and Wilcos through to your local petrol station. These are your typical ‘energy-saving’ bulbs with the offshoot being that not everyone likes the quality of light that they omit.
I remember a few years ago I went on some kind of mini-mission in our house replacing all our bulbs with these kinds and honestly, It just ends creating a sort of yellow glow while the bulb warms up which can be a bit of a pain during the winter when it gets dark earlier and you
The big difference with Halogen bulbs is the cost of running them as you can see above. The real kicker with this type of bulb is that they don’t end to last that long and generally kick the bucket after a year or two so it is unlikely to pay for itself before it gives up!
As high as LED lighting prices maybe now they have actually come down a fair bit over the last few years and with a lifespan of around 25 years they are a great money saver in the long run. Indeed LED lights can actually save you over £180 in energy use over the course of its lifespan.
So no matter what changes you are looking to make when it comes to lighting it’s a good job to think long term when it comes to selecting which bulbs you go with as while it might cost a little more upfront getting the right type can pay real dividends.
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