Household Figures

LED vs Incandescent Bulb Savings Calculator

Enter your bulbs, their wattages and how long they are on to see the yearly savings from switching to LED.

About 8 to 10 W matches a 60 W bulb.
Example value. Use the price you pay.
Yearly savings: —
Old bulbs, cost per year
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LED bulbs, cost per year
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Energy saved per year
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Cost of the LED bulbs
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Pays for itself in
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Where to find your numbers

Not sure what to enter? Here is where to find each value for your own home. If you cannot find one, leave the example value and treat the result as a rough estimate.

Number of bulbs

How many bulbs of this kind you are replacing.

  1. Walk through your home and count the bulbs of the same wattage, or do one room at a time.
  2. Run the calculator again for bulbs of a different wattage or hours of use.

Old bulb and LED watts

The watts are printed on the bulb and on the package.

  1. Old bulb: look at the top of the glass or the base. You will see something like "60W".
  2. LED: check the package or the bulb. Match brightness, not watts. Brightness is in lumens: about 450 lumens replaces a 40 W bulb, 800 lumens a 60 W bulb, 1,100 lumens a 75 W bulb, and 1,600 lumens a 100 W bulb.
  3. An LED that gives about 800 lumens usually uses roughly 8 to 10 watts.

Hours on per day

The average time the bulbs are on each day.

  1. Think about how long the lights are on in that room. Kitchens and living rooms are often on for several hours, and closets or guest rooms for minutes.
  2. Use an average across the bulbs you are counting.

Electricity rate ($ per kWh)

This is what your utility charges for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity.

  1. Open your latest electric bill (paper, email, or your utility's website or app).
  2. Look for a line called "price per kWh", "energy charge" or "rate". It is often shown in cents, so divide by 100 (17 cents is 0.17).
  3. If the bill only shows totals, divide the total electricity charges by the kWh used. This quick all-in rate includes fixed fees, so it runs a little high.
  4. If your rate changes by time of day or by how much you use, use an average, or the rate that applies when you use the appliance most.

No bill handy? About 17 cents is a rough US average, so the pre-filled value is a fair start. Rates vary a lot by state and utility, so your own number is better.

See the average residential rate for every state

Price of one LED bulb ($)

What you pay for one LED bulb.

  1. Check the price at a store or online. Multi-packs usually cost less per bulb, so divide the pack price by the number of bulbs.

How it works

Yearly energy is bulbs times watts times hours per day times 365, divided by 1,000 to get kWh. Cost is kWh times your rate. Savings are the old cost minus the LED cost, and payback is the price of the LED bulbs divided by the monthly savings. To see what other appliances cost, use the appliance electricity cost calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What LED wattage replaces a 60 watt bulb?

A typical 60 W incandescent bulb gives off roughly 800 lumens, and an LED bulb with a similar brightness often uses about 8 to 10 watts. Check the lumens on the package to match brightness.

Does this include the longer life of LEDs?

No. This tool compares energy cost and the time it takes the LED purchase to pay for itself. LED bulbs are often rated to last many times longer than old incandescent bulbs, so replacement savings would be on top of the numbers shown.

How many hours a day should I enter?

Use the average hours the lights are on. Living rooms and kitchens are often on for several hours a day, while closets and guest rooms may be on for minutes. You can run the calculator separately for each group of bulbs.

Why is my real saving different?

Your electricity rate, how often the lights are on, dimmers, standby power in smart bulbs, and heating or cooling effects all change the result. Heat from old bulbs can slightly reduce heating needs in winter and add to cooling in summer.

Related tools

How the numbers are produced: see our methodology.