LED bulb savings calculator
EverydayHow much will switching to LED bulbs save you?
Compare an old bulb with an LED: the energy and money saved a year and how soon the LED pays for itself.
What you enter stays on your device while you use this tool. Opening a shared link sends the settings in its address to HowToolbox to prepare the page.
Bulbs and price
Saved a year
$14.24
56.9 kWh less electricity a year; pays for itself in about 4.2 months.
Brightness
- To be as bright as a 60 W incandescent, pick an LED of at least 800 lumens.
Energy and cost a year
| Bulbs | Energy | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Old bulbs | 65.7 kWh | $16.43 |
| LEDs | 8.8 kWh | $2.19 |
| Saving | 56.9 kWh | $14.24 |
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How bright an LED you need
Minimum lumens of a bulb that replaces an old incandescent, from ENERGY STAR.
| Old incandescent | At least |
|---|---|
| 40 W | 450 lm |
| 60 W | 800 lm |
| 75 W | 1,100 lm |
| 100 W | 1,600 lm |
| 150 W | 2,600 lm |
Compare an old bulb with an LED: the energy and money saved a year and how soon the LED pays for itself.
How to use
- Enter the power of the old bulb and of the LED that replaces it, in watts. The wattage is printed on the bulb or its box.
- Enter how many hours a day the light is on and what you pay for a kilowatt-hour.
- Optionally enter how many bulbs you replace and what one LED costs, to see the payback time.
Yearly savings: one 60 W bulb replaced by an 8 W LED at €0.25/kWh
How it works
A bulb uses its wattage every hour it is on. Energy in kilowatt-hours is watts × hours ÷ 1,000, and the cost is that times your price per kWh. A 60 W bulb lit 3 hours a day uses 60 × 3 × 365 ÷ 1,000 ≈ 65.7 kWh a year; an 8 W LED giving the same light uses about 8.8 kWh. At 0.25 per kWh the LED saves about 14.24 a year.
The payback time is what the LEDs cost divided by what they save a year: a 5 LED saving 14.24 a year pays for itself in about 4 months. After that, the saving is yours for the rest of the LED's life.
Brightness is measured in lumens, not watts. ENERGY STAR (US EPA) lists the minimum lumens of a bulb that replaces an old incandescent: 450 lm for 40 W, 800 lm for 60 W, 1,100 lm for 75 W, 1,600 lm for 100 W and 2,600 lm for 150 W. The calculator does not include bulb lifetimes, prices that change by the hour or the heat old bulbs gave off in winter.
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Frequently asked questions
What LED replaces a 60 W bulb?
One of at least 800 lumens, typically 7–9 W.
Is it worth replacing a bulb that still works?
For lights that are on several hours a day, usually yes: the saving often pays for the LED within a year. A bulb used a few minutes a day takes much longer to pay back.
Do halogen bulbs save much compared with incandescent ones?
Only a little: halogens use about 30 % less power for the same light, while LEDs use around 80–85 % less.
What if the LED uses as much power as the old bulb?
There is no energy saving, so no payback time is shown.
Does the estimate include replacement bulbs?
No. It includes the initial LED purchase and electricity savings, but not later replacements.
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