LED light bulb or Halogen: spot the difference

With all the different types of LED bulbs, the mixed opinion on light quality, understanding the power consumption and the purchasing vs running cost, we have put together a little case study. By replacing one 35 Watt halogen bulb with a GU10 5 Watt LED light bulb, we can compare the differences. 

The Price

Two of these 35 Watt halogen bulbs would cost you around £3.99 every time you replace them. This 5 Watt LED bulb came in a pair for £14.99. The cost of the LED bulb is clearly much greater. However, the life expectancy of these two bulbs is very different. It is hard to predict how long a halogen bulb will last but with an average of 4 hours use per day, you may expect a lifespan of between 1 and 3 years. Conversely, the LED bulb claims a life expectancy of 25 years. This makes the LED bulbs much cheaper to purchase over their lifetime. They also have the added bonus of not having to replace them when they blow.

The Power Consumption

What is the one reason above all else why people are switching to LED? To reduce the electricity consumption. LED light bulbs have the potential to cut your lighting bill by 90%. The halogen bulb in this case study uses 35 Watts of power and the LED uses 5 Watts. If we calculate the running cost for a year, based on an average of 4 hours use per day and an average electricity cost of £0.10 per kWh, the halogen bulb costs £10.22. The LED light bulb costs £1.46. That is a massive difference in price just for one bathroom bulb. This shows that houses with hundreds of light fittings could be saving thousands on their energy bill by switching to LED’s.

However, the big question is whether they produce the same quality of light? Let’s take a look!

The Light

LED’s have historically suffered in popularity from the fact they gave off very white, cold light as opposed to the aesthetically warm glow from a halogen. This GU10 5 Watt LED however, is visibly producing the orange-yellow light at the equivalent lumens of the halogen lamp while using 1/7th of the power. Another factor to note is the halogen bulb very quickly warmed up whereas the LED bulb showed no signs of heat at all. This loss of energy in heat explains a large proportion of the wasted energy.