Which Energy Saving Lighting Globes Save The Most Money?

As a large part of our electricity bills is the result of lighting our homes, many homeowners are looking for ways that they can reduce these costs and bring down their bills. One of the best ways to do this (short of not using lights in your home) is to switch over to energy saving lighting. Over the years, however, there have been a number of supposedly energy efficient globes released onto the market; the hard part now is trying to determine which one is going to save you the most money.

(Halogen) Incandescent Globes
The lights that we have been using in our homes for the last 130 years are known as incandescent globes, and they are as inefficient as they come. Even though they have a lifetime of somewhere between 700 and 1,000 hours (which is pretty substantial when you look at it), around 90% of the energy that they produce is heat – not light. Earlier this year, however, it become mandatory for companies producing incandescent lighting to make the globes 25-30% more energy efficient than their original counterparts – these are known as halogen incandescent globes.

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)
These globes are known for being reasonably small in size and produce a fairly warm illumination. They are much more efficient than incandescent lighting, lasting somewhere between 7,500 and 10,000 hours. This type of energy saving lighting is, unfortunately, considerably more expensive than the incandescent type. The good news, however, is that they use around 75% less energy, so will begin paying for themselves in no time (especially as they don’t need to be replaced as often).

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
This is the newest energy efficient globe on the market and is known for offering a number of other benefits to homeowners, including being free of poisonous mercury and being extremely solid. They have the longest lifespan of all globes, lasting about 50,000 hours. Again, this lighting is considerably more expensive than both incandescent globes and CFLs, but they require 75-80% less energy, so will begin paying for themselves very quickly. It is hoped that their initial cost will begin to drop very soon, too.

If you are looking for the energy efficient lighting that will save you the most money on your electricity bills, you should definitely be investing in some LED globes. If you are a bit wary of the cost of these globes and installation, you could also go down the CFL route. Incandescent globes, even the new halogen models, should be avoided at all costs due to their inefficiency on all levels.