LED vs Incandescent for Commercial Buildings

Why choose LED?

LED lights are 75% more energy-efficient than incandescent lights, but knowing how much you’re going to spend on one versus the other can be a little tricky. You’ll spend around $5 to $10 on a single LED bulb and only $1 to $2 on a single incandescent bulb. However, these upfront costs are deceptive.

How much can I save per bulb by switching to LED?

Once you factor in the replacement costs of incandescent lights, the initial savings are replaced with replacement costs. In fact, the lifespan of an incandescent light bulb is 1% to 5% of the lifespan of new LED bulbs. By switching to LED light bulbs, you can save as much as $1,000 per decade or $8.33 per month.

In other words, though LED bulbs are approximately twice as expensive as their incandescent competitors, you end up paying three times as much on energy for the same amount of watts when you choose an incandescent bulb.

What is 1 watt LED equivalent to incandescent?

1 watt LED bulb is the same as 9 watts in an incandescent light bulb.

T8 LED Tube Lights vs. Fluorescent Tube Lights

When comparing LED vs. fluorescent, LED have a longer life, lower electricity consumption, and don’t require a ballast (an expensive, energy-hungry part that needs to be replaced every few years).

Would office buildings or warehouses benefit from switching to LED tube lights?

Since office buildings and warehouses use so many T8 fluorescent tube lights, and also since these types of lights are on most of the day, they can make major savings by switching to T8 LED tube lights. Fluorescent tube lights are not cheap light bulbs: A small 4-story office building could have hundreds of fluorescent tube lights and could save thousands of dollars per year by switching to LED tube lights.