By Mark J. Donovan
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For years compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb manufacturers have touted
their CFL bulbs as much more energy efficient and cost effective than the tried
and true incandescent light bulb. Their argument has been that even though CFL
light bulbs are much more expensive than incandescent light bulbs and contain,
albeit small amounts of Mercury, that the energy cost savings they produce
outweighs these negatives.
More recently some of the same light bulb manufacturers have also begun to
heavily market Light Emitting Diode (LED) light bulbs.
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LED light bulbs, vs CFL bulbs, are solid bulbs that are designed to save
even more on energy costs. LED lights are the same types of lights that have
been used in electronics and instrument panels for years. As with CFL bulbs, LED
bulbs are priced much higher than incandescent bulbs, and even CFL bulbs. But
again, LED bulbs are marketed as saving you even more money on your utility
bills than CFL bulbs, over the life of the bulb.
Manufacturer’s of LED bulbs claim they last tens of thousands of hours and use
only a fraction of the energy required of CFL bulbs. With these two simple facts
they market that the effective overall cost of owning and operating LED bulbs is
much less than both incandescent and CFL bulbs.
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They may be correct in their assertions, however there were many similar claims
made with CFL bulbs. Almost everyone who has purchased CFL bulbs, however, has
pretty much been disappointed with them. The CFL bulbs either are too dim, take
too long to get to full brightness, or have a dramatically shorter lifespan than
advertised due to turning them on and off too frequently. Then there is the
concern on what to do with them if they break or no longer operate. |
LED bulbs are also much more expensive than CFL bulbs, with a single bulb
easily costing $20 to $60 or more. Consequently it would be of no great surprise
to learn that LED bulb manufacturers may be over-hyping the energy cost savings
potential in order to convince consumers to shell out that kind of cash for a
light bulb.
| In addition, most LED bulbs are of the lower wattage
variety, e.g. around 15-25 watts and they typically consist of a number of
LED elements per bulb to even achieve these wattage ratings. Moreover in
some LED bulb designs the light has been known to be somewhat directional.
Also, some LED light bulbs have been known to cause radio reception
interference. |
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There’s no doubt LED bulbs are much more durable than incandescent and CFL
light bulbs since they are of solid construction. This is one of the main
reasons why in recent years they have begun to show up on Christmas trees. And
admittedly the technology has come a long way from the original LEDs we found in
electronic consumer equipment. Also, their prices should continue to fall over
time with improved cost reductions in their manufacturing and higher volume
sales.
But that said, as with CFL bulbs, only time will tell how much money LED bulbs
will really save on energy bills, and how long it will take to recoup the costs
of these very expensive bulbs. In my humble opinion, at their current prices
most homeowners would unlikely stay in the home long enough to recoup their
costs, and thus the investment in them seems highly suspect at this time.
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