I still have incandescent bulbs throughout my apartment and my electricity bill keeps getting more expensive. I'm thinking about switching all of them to LED, but I'm not sure if the initial cost will pay off or how long it'll take to break even. Has anyone done this upgrade?
I made the switch a while ago and honestly the difference in the bill is pretty noticeable, especially if you have a lot of lights on during the day. LEDs use like a fraction of what incandescent bulbs eat up, so depending on how many bulbs you have, the upfront cost pays for itself in months, not years. The only thing is you gotta make sure the bulbs are compatible with your fixtures (some old equipment can be finicky sometimes), but overall it's one of those renovations that pays for itself and plus they last forever.
The best way to know is to do the math: take the wattage of your current bulbs, multiply it by the hours they're on each day, and compare it to the consumption of the LED bulbs you want to install. In most cases it does pay off, but it really depends on how many lights you have and how much you pay per kwh in your area. What's definitely true is that LEDs last way longer, so even if the initial savings seem small, you stop replacing bulbs every couple of months, which also counts. My recommendation is to start with the places where lights are on the most - kitchen, living room, hallways - and leave the others for later if your budget is tight.
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