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You may be a bike commuter who eats only locally grown organic food, but if you use incandescent light bulbs at home you’ve got a flat tire when it comes to being environmentally conscious – and saving money. You’re in fact wasting energy. That’s because incandescent light bulbs are inefficient, with 90 percent of their energy converted into heat and only the remaining 10 percent converted directly into light. But there are better options.
Thankfully, saving energy, and money, is as easy as changing a light bulb. By switching to ENERGY STAR® certified LEDs—light bulbs that have passed rigorous, third-party testing to guarantee their performance—you’ll cut your electric bill and curb your energy consumption.
So how much will you save? ENERGY STAR certified LED lighting is up to 90 percent more energy efficient than traditional incandescent lighting, which means you can save over $100 in energy costs over the course of an LED bulb’s lifetime.
But environmentally-friendly, ENERGY STAR certified LEDs offer more than just savings. From style to functionality to versatility, let’s take a look at how ENERGY STAR certified LEDs can fit seamlessly into your home.
Design-Forward Lighting
We all take pride in the appearance of our home, and we want our appliances to not only function properly but to complement our aesthetic choices. Thankfully, LEDs come in many shapes, sizes, styles, and colors, meaning you can find one for every type of room in your house. Choose from integrated fixtures offering sleek designs or opt for lights with different color temperature (warm yellow to crisp white to bright daylight) depending on the mood of your room.
Reliable, Durable, and Safe
Unlike CFLs, the curly-style bulbs that were the early generation of energy-efficient lighting, LEDs last longer, don’t take time to warm up, provide great quality light without flickering, and are mercury-free. Overall the LED generation of energy-efficient lighting offers the reliability and quality we all want in our homes.
In addition to their longevity (you might change an LED bulb only once every 15 years, or longer!), LEDs are durable and safe. Most LED bulbs are shatter-resistant, which is ideal if you live in a house where durability counts – frequent house projects underway, kids roughhousing all the time, or things just get knocked over. They also produce up to 90 percent less heat than incandescent bulbs, meaning they’ll never be hot enough to burn your fingers if you touch the bulb.
High Quality
Just because you’re switching to a lightbulb that is more energy efficient doesn’t mean you’ll be sacrificing light quality. In fact, LEDs have been tested to produce consistent light that won’t fade or flicker, while the ENERGY STAR certification guarantees—among other things—that the light shows colors accurately and will continue to perform over the life of the bulb.
Versatile
LEDs can withstand a variety of conditions, making them perfect for outdoor lighting. These bulbs come on instantly in cold temperatures and don’t burn out frequently, decreasing the likelihood of inconvenient situations, like you needing to change the garage flood light when it’s icy outside. And don’t forget wet-rated LEDs, which are capable of withstanding full exposure to New England weather. The bulb packaging will tell you if it’s indoor, damp, or wet rated.
LEDs are easily adaptable to your indoor lighting needs, too. They can provide brighter light than their incandescent counterparts, making them the better choice for task lighting applications. Want to dim the lighting for a mellow mood? No problem. Most ENERGY STAR certified LEDs are compatible with universal dimmer switches.
With all the energy savings LEDs bring, you’d think that ENERGY STAR certified LED bulbs would come at a hefty cost, but they’re actually more affordable now than ever. Over the past five years, LED prices have dropped from over $20 per bulb to close to $2 per bulb.
And now, thanks to the support of Mass Save, you can save even more with substantially discounted prices at lighting retailers throughout the state. Visit MassSave.com to search where to find these discounts, learn more energy-saving tips, and to discover additional discounts and rebates brought to you by the sponsors of Mass Save.
More From Mass Save:
Classic Incandescent Style, With an Energy Efficient Twist
Finding Outdoor Lights That Are Up to The Job
Why The ENERGY STAR® Matters When Shopping For LED Light Bulbs
