This is the fourth post in a series on explaining common misunderstandings about LEDs. The previous installments include, Myth: LEDs Don’t Save Power, Myth: LEDs Don’t Work, and Myth: LEDs Are Light Bulbs.
$50 for a light bulb? Eesh. Who would want to pay that when you could buy an incandescent light bulb for $2.50, and use the extra cash on a new outfit or a tank of gas? Why pay more when you can pay less?
Is The Price Right?
It’s no secret that LED light bulbs cost more than other light sources – incandescent, halogen, and even fluorescent – but those price tags don’t tell you the whole truth. They leave out the fact that you’re saving money by spending a little more for a quality light bulb.
Let me break it down for you:
LEDs last much longer than older kinds of light bulbs. If you pay $29.90 for this LED A lamp, and it lasts 23 years (give or take), that price evens out to cost you just over one dollar per year!
If you buy a cheaper light bulb, like a halogen A19 for $3.25, and it burns out after a year or so, over those same 23 years you’ll have spent about $75 on replacements. Ouch!
Do You Have The Energy?
When it comes to energy saving (like we covered in this post), LEDs also come out on top.
For 12 watts of power, an LED light bulb can produce the same amount of light as a 60 watt incandescent. Those 48 watts of saved energy mean even more money in your pocket.
Great Expectations.
But, if you still can’t bear to part with a crisp $20 for one of these fancy new light bulbs, you shouldn’t close the door on LEDs forever. New technology always becomes better and less expensive over time, so you can look forward to LEDs going the way of laptops and cellphones in the near future. We expect prices of LEDs to drop dramatically in the coming years.
Now it’s your turn: Tell us what you’ve heard about LEDs – Good? Bad? Ugly? Complicated? Do you believe the hype?