Have you replaced all your household lights with LEDs yet? LED lights have become increasingly popular over the past few years as technological advances have allowed the prices to be more affordable. Replacing incandescent bulbs inside and outside your home wherever possible is really a no-brainer. The sooner you do this the sooner you’ll be reaping the benefits.

If you’ve already replaced every regular incandescent bulb with an LED, congrats! – you’ve already been enjoying the cost savings in your electric bill. Replacing six 60W incandescent bulbs with 9W LED bulbs will cost you about $15 in upfront costs but will save you about $10 each month in electricity – essentially paying for the initial investment in 1 ½ months. In one year, you’ll save about $120 on your electric bill. This is based on having your lights on for 8 hours a day. And since LEDs can last 25 to 50 times longer than an incandescent bulb, that 8-hour-a-day bulb can last 8 to 16 years which can save you another $20 to $40 PER BULB in replacement costs!

In addition to saving money on electricity being used, LED bulbs also reduce the amount of heat being dissipated, thereby reducing your cooling costs. 10% of the energy used with incandescent bulbs is used for lighting while 90% is wasted in producing heat. Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) use about 20% for lighting while wasting about 80% of their energy to heat. Compare that to 95% of an LED’s energy being used for lighting with only 5% producing heat.

While CFLs are considered energy efficient, there are several advantages of LEDs over CFLs. First, there’s the energy efficiency factor. LEDs produce more lumens while using less wattage. Lumens is a measurement of total light that is visible to the human eye. Another advantage is that LED lights turn on to full brightness instantly. If you’ve had recessed lighting with CFLs in a kitchen ceiling or some other space, you’ve dealt with the frustration of having to be patient when you first turn on the lights. Most people like the quality of light with an LED compared to a CFL because it can be softer and won’t have a slight flicker to it. Certain LED bulbs are dimmable where CFLs are not. If that’s enough, there are LED bulbs that can change colors to any color of the rainbow.

Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which is a hazardous chemical that can be released into the atmosphere if a bulb breaks or is disposed of improperly. You cannot just throw a fluorescent bulb in the trash. Most home improvement stores will recycle CFL bulbs you drop off. By using LEDs you’ll also help reduce the amount greenhouse gases produced by power plants by reducing the amount of power needing to be produced.

Now, I bought about a dozen LED bulbs at Costco and replaced bulbs around the house. Three of them failed in the first year. Keep in mind that like most things, you get what you pay for. Light bulbs are a very good example of this since they are typically mass-produced in factories oversees. The good news is that most LED bulbs come with a 1-year warranty. If an LED bulb fails in the first year you’d simply call a 1-800 number to request a replacement.

Occasionally, your electric service provider may offer rebates to help cover replacement costs of your non energy-efficient bulbs. However, it seems like most rebates these days are offered only to commercial customers.

Well, by now you should be convinced that you need to replace as many incandescent bulbs as you can. This is obviously a DIY job for most people. I mean how many handymen does it take to change an LED light bulb? But if you come across any bulbs you can’t reach, fixtures that may need to be replaced, or need help finding a specialty bulb give us a call at Hero Handymen. We’ll be glad to help out or answer any questions you may have.