Saving Money with LED Bulbs and Solar Panels

Even before we had solar panels installed I was starting to be aware of power consumption and trying to reduce the electricity we used by switching to low energy light bulbs. For most bulbs in the house we replaced the standard bulbs with CFL low energy versions so 100W bulbs became 20W CFL. After having the solar panels fitted and monitoring our electricity usage I tackled some of the other big guzzlers by replacing kitchen GU10 50W bulbs with LED versions at 5W.

Saving Money with LED Bulbs to replace CFL

Until this week I wasn't aware how LED technology had moved on and that LED versions of standard bayonet and screw light bulb fittings were now available at very low prices. I took the plunge and bought a few 5W LED bulbs from Screwfix. I've beenvery impressed with the brightness and how they instantly come on compared to CFL ones and the power consumption is far better too.

In the hallway it was a 20W CFL replacing a 100W standard bulb. That's now been changed to a 5.8W LED which seems very similar brightness despite only being a 40W equivalent rating. Best of all the LED bulb was only £1.79.

It's really great way of reducing energy use as well as saving money as it's now well within 12 months payback for heavily used lights. In fact a colleague was changing his halogen GU10 bulbs for 5W LEDs and I did a few calculations. For the most heavily used bulbs the payback would be under a month!

LED bulbs to save electricity

The only problem I have now is a stock of CFL and standard bulbs that I've replaced!

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