the case for switching to LED lightbulbs
ok, here’s mr. facts:
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- incandescent [icd]: $0.50/ea., 2000 hr life >
- compact fluorescent [cf]: $3.00/ea., 10,000 hr life >
- LED [led]: $10.00/ea., 100,000 hr life >
considering a kWh cost of $0.15, 8.0 hours of usage/day, all lumen outputs equivalent to a 45W incandescent:
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- icd (45W) = $19.80/yr >
- cf (9W) = $3.96/yr >
- led (3W) = $1.32/yr >
considering that an LED will run for 34 years without burning out at the above usage, the following 34-year costs can be determined:
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- icd: $22.50 in bulbs + $673.20 in electricity = $695.70 >
- cf: $13.50 ” ” + $134.64 ” ” = $148.14 >
- led: $10.00 ” ” + $44.88 ” ” = $54.88 >
now, if one were to borrow against the amount paid for a light fixture’s 34yr lifetime icd bulb requirements, one would net $695.70. now, if one were to invest that $695.70 into even low-ass yield t-bills (one would have to chip in $4.30 though, t-bills are only available in $100 increments), over the course of 35 years (three 10-year t-bills reupped, followed by a 5-year) one would have an ending balance of $2,428.38.
none of the above takes into consideration that nobody would ever use a lowball t-bill to do this, more likely a mutual fund or hell, you could get .75 oz. of gold or 3 shares of apple stock. whatever, just know that however you invest that almost $700.00 it will be more than quadrupled by the time your $10.00 led finally kicks the bucket.
and remember, this is just for ONE lightbulb. you know you can replace at least 5 incandescents currently burning in your house/apt./barn/business/butt.
so yeah, deeeeeewwwwww eeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt.
What are your recommended LED bulbs? I’ve only ever seen very dim, very expensive ones. $10 sounds optimistic compared to the ones I’ve found.
