There is no question whatsoever that LEDs use less electricity and will therefore save you on your monthly electricity bill.
Of course that still doesn't quite tell you whether you will make back your initial purchase price -- that will depend on how long you stick with your bulbs before upgrading; but given the high price of electricity it won't take long before you do.
As Sarkand says, the heated discussion here hasn't been about saving money, but about other issues involving LED bulbs -- most recently about the heat generated vs incandescent bulbs.
I have raised heat as an issue for two reasons: First, because I wish to reduce the heat added to the house by the bulbs during the summer, and second, because I wish to run brighter bulbs in light fixtures that are rated at 60w.
I think to sum up what we've sussed out:
- The wattage of a bulb (whether it be incandescent or LED) is probably a very good measure of the heat being added to the environment; so an efficient 10 watt LED is going to be warming the room a lot less than a 60 watt incandescent bulb. So far so good. This addresses concern number one.
- However, for some interesting and non-intuitive physics reasons, LED bulbs don't disperse their heat well -- and all of the heat they generate is located right at the base of the bulb (compare this to traditional incandescent bulbs which project heat out into the room along with the visible light) . This is why LED bulbs have special heat sinks on them, and why many LED bulbs are listed as not for use in enclosed fixtures. They generate much less heat, but all of that heat stays right at the base of the bulb. Therefore, it may not be safe to run a much brighter LED in a fixture rated for 60w -- because the heat at the base of the LED may exceed the heat at the base of a 60w incandescent.
- Heat generated at the base of LED bulbs has an additional consequence. Not only because it might exceed the safe range for your fixture -- but because it can cause a very early failure of the bulb itself. So pay attention to the quality of the heat sink on the LED bulb, and whether the bulb is rated for use inside an enclosed fixture. Bottom line for concern #2: If it not enclosed and has a good heat sink, it's probably safe to use a brighter bulb in a fixture rated for 60w.
So, all things considered, LED bulbs do seem to still be a good solution to my concerns about heat and brightness -- with the caveats above.
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