LED bulb Electricity Cost & Wattage
What an LED bulb costs to run: typical 9 W, about $2 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.
Your LED bulb running cost
Costs about
/ month
- Per day
- Per year
- Energy per day
Change the hours and price to match your case.
Typical wattage
| Low | 4 W |
|---|---|
| Typical | 9 W |
| High | 15 W |
| Typical use | 4 h/day |
An LED bulb is the appliance where the switch to modern technology paid off most dramatically. A single LED giving the same light as an old 60 W incandescent draws only about 8 to 10 watts, and even compared with the halogens that replaced incandescents it uses roughly 85% less power. This page shows the cost of one bulb; multiply by the number you run for a room or a whole home. The wattage is low, but lights are on for hours every evening, so across many bulbs it still adds up.
Because an LED converts most of its energy to light rather than heat, there is little left to save on the bulb itself — the technology is already efficient. What matters is quantity and hours: a home might have dozens of bulbs, and the ones in kitchens, living rooms and hallways run for hours daily. Swapping the last remaining halogens or incandescents for LEDs, especially in the most-used fittings, is one of the fastest-paying energy upgrades there is.
Beyond the running cost, LEDs last far longer — often 15,000 to 25,000 hours against 1,000 to 2,000 for a halogen — so you also buy far fewer bulbs over the years. The small habits still help: turning lights off in empty rooms, using lower-output bulbs where you do not need brightness, and fitting dimmers or sensors in spaces that are only used briefly. Use the LED vs halogen calculator to see the saving from switching a whole home.
One nuance worth knowing: a 'smart' Wi-Fi or Bluetooth LED bulb is not quite the same as a plain one. To stay reachable by an app or a voice assistant, it keeps a small radio powered even when the light is switched off, typically drawing a fraction of a watt around the clock. Across a handful of smart bulbs in a home that is a small but real standby cost on top of the light itself — worth knowing if you are choosing between a smart bulb and a smart plug controlling a plain one.
How to cut LED bulb running costs
- Replace any remaining halogen or incandescent bulbs with LEDs, starting with the most-used lights.
- Match brightness to the room — you rarely need the highest-output bulb everywhere.
- Turn lights off in empty rooms; it is the simplest lighting saving of all.
- Use sensors or timers in hallways, bathrooms and outdoor spaces used only briefly.
- Check lumens, not watts, when buying so you get the light level you actually want.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an LED bulb cost to run?
A 9 W LED on four hours a day uses about 13 kWh a year — roughly $2.20 at $0.17/kWh. The saving over a 50 W halogen doing the same job is around $12 a year per bulb.
Are LED bulbs really worth switching to?
Yes. They use about 85% less power than halogens for the same light and last many times longer, so both the running cost and the replacement cost drop sharply — usually paying for themselves within months.
Should I compare bulbs by watts or lumens?
By lumens, which measure light output. Watts only tell you power use. An LED uses few watts for a lot of lumens, so match the lumens to the brightness you want and let the low wattage follow.