Individuals are trying to save money and energy today. The first thing you are said to do is exchange incandescent lights with new technology bulbs. This saves energy but will it really save you money? I want to take a while to run the numbers on the new and not so new lights out there. This won't be an in-depth summary on lighting just to determine if the new lights are worth the primary expense.

- Let me use 10 cents a Kilowatt Hour for the cost of energy source (0.10/KWH).

- Let me consider 4,000 hours of use a year. This is about standard for a store or restaurant occupancy.

- We are using a 60 watt incandescent light as the basis of the computation, so my comparison lights will get 800 lumens at least.

- We will look at the costs on a 1 year, 5 year and 10 year scale.

- The cost of hard cash is 7%. This will be needed in the comparison section because if you buy the lights you don't possess that money left to spend on another thing or earn you money. Listed here will be an annual cost of ownership. This is Incandescent lamp amortized at 7% over the lifespan of the bulb divided by 4,000 hour yearly.

Incandescent Lights:

For the purposes of this exercise I will think that incandescent lights are free. An instant price check reveals I can get 8 packs for below 2 dollars so I am rounding this cost to an absolute zero.

- 60 watts x 4,000 hours = 240,000 watts (Watts per year).

- 240 KWH x $0.10 = $24.00 per year to operate the incandescent bulb.

- Annual cost of Ownership = $0.00. (Since the bulb cost zero the cost to own the bulb also is $0.00.)

Fluorescent Lights:

I am using a 13 watt compact fluorescent they put out about 900 lumens and keep working about 8,000 hours then cost just about $10.00.

- 13 watts x 4,000 hours = 52,000 watts (Watts per year)

- 52 KWH x $0.10 = $5.20 per year to operate the fluorescent bulb.

- Annual cost of Ownership = $5.40 ($10.00 at 7% for 2 years)

LED Light Bulbs:

LED lights are a little more confusing than the others. I am having a LED based light with the same light output as the above 2 light bulbs, 13 watts, 900 lumens and 50,000 hour life. The price I am applying is $75.00. You can find inexpensive lights with long life spans but the color of the light is not comparable to other bulbs.

- 13 watts x 4,000 hours = 52,000 watts (Watts annually)

- 52 KWH x $0.10 = $5.20 per year to operate the LED bulb.

- Annual cost of Ownership = $9.00 ($75.00 at 7% for about 12.5 years)

The Comparison

- Incandescent Lights = 1 year $24.00 – 5 year $120.00 – 10 years $240.00

- Fluorescent Lights = 1 year $10.60 – 5 year $53.00 – 10 years $106.00

- LED Lights = 1 year $14.20 – 5 year $71.00 – 10 years $142.00

Conclusion

LED light price point would have to reduce to $45.00 to be with equal footing with CFL or the wattage would have to be cut in half. By the time you browse this it may already be true, so get the current prices and your electricity bill and run the numbers for your internet marketing business.