Switching to LED bulbs could save you more than Rs.4,000 a year
Shifting to LED bulbs could save an average family around Rs. 4,000 a year on their power bills due to energy efficiency gains and lower replacement costs, according to Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), a government-run joint venture.
The company’s National Energy Efficient Fan Programme inaugurated on Thursday, is expected to help reduce household electricity bills and the country’s overall carbon dioxide emissions.
“Taking an average of five bulb points per household and an assumption that five incandescent bulbs are replaced with LEDs, a household stands to have energy savings of 1.77 kWh per day and annually 649 kWh,” EESL told The Hindu in an emailed response. “Considering average tariff as Rs.4/ kWh, an average household stands to save approximately Rs.2,550 annually.”
These savings will proportionally increase for households with more light bulbs and for those located in States with higher power tariffs. The average electricity tariff in Delhi, for example, is Rs. 6.82 per unit, which works out to an annual saving of Rs. 4,400 if five incandescent are changed to LED.
Increased life expectancy
In addition, LED bulbs have the advantage of longevity — they do not need to be replaced nearly as much as incandescent or CFL bulbs are done.
According to the EESL data, the life expectancy of an LED bulb is 25,000 hours (around two years and 10 months), compared to 8,000 hours for CFL bulbs and 1,200 hours for incandescent bulbs.
“A consumer, if he continues with ICL (incandescent bulbs), may have to invest at least Rs.30 per year per bulb to keep it burning (an ICL that on average costs Rs.15, typically lasts not more than six months),” EESL said. “This implies that for the lifetime of an LED, the consumer saves at least Rs.1,250 by not frequently buying ordinary bulbs.”
Power Minister Piyush Goyal had repeatedly emphasised that the country would save 100 billion units of electricity a year by switching over to LED, which, he said, translated to a saving of Rs.40,000 crore across all households.
Switching to LEDs also helps the government meet its carbon dioxide emission reduction targets, since lower power consumption will eventually result in lower power production and hydrocarbon use .
According to the website of the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP), the government has sold 9.17 crore LED bulbs as of April 6, the utilisation of which would result in a reduction of 26,451 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day, or almost 10 million tonnes a year. To put it in perspective, 10 million tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to nearly 54 million railcar worth of coal burned.
Under the Street Light National Programme, the government has converted 7,50,780 streetlights to LED, which, according to the programme website, has resulted in a saving of more than 2.72 lakh units of electricity per day.
And, the new line of fans will only add to this environmentally-friendly endeavour.
“The cooling needs of most of the households in India are met by fans, given that the penetration of ACs in households is still less than 10 per cent,” EESL stated in a release, following the announcement of its line of energy efficient fans. “The average rating of the fans installed and sold in the market is between 75-80 W, whereas energy efficient fans provide the same level of comfort at about 45-50 W.”
“There are 35 crore inefficient fans across the country. If all of these are replaced with BEE 5-star rated energy efficient fans, the country will have an expected annual energy savings of 47 billion KWh with a reduction of over 12,250 MW of electricity load,” EESL added.
The company’s National Energy Efficient Fan Programme inaugurated on Thursday, is expected to help reduce household electricity bills and the country’s overall carbon dioxide emissions.
“Taking an average of five bulb points per household and an assumption that five incandescent bulbs are replaced with LEDs, a household stands to have energy savings of 1.77 kWh per day and annually 649 kWh,” EESL told The Hindu in an emailed response. “Considering average tariff as Rs.4/ kWh, an average household stands to save approximately Rs.2,550 annually.”
These savings will proportionally increase for households with more light bulbs and for those located in States with higher power tariffs. The average electricity tariff in Delhi, for example, is Rs. 6.82 per unit, which works out to an annual saving of Rs. 4,400 if five incandescent are changed to LED.
Increased life expectancy
In addition, LED bulbs have the advantage of longevity — they do not need to be replaced nearly as much as incandescent or CFL bulbs are done.
According to the EESL data, the life expectancy of an LED bulb is 25,000 hours (around two years and 10 months), compared to 8,000 hours for CFL bulbs and 1,200 hours for incandescent bulbs.
“A consumer, if he continues with ICL (incandescent bulbs), may have to invest at least Rs.30 per year per bulb to keep it burning (an ICL that on average costs Rs.15, typically lasts not more than six months),” EESL said. “This implies that for the lifetime of an LED, the consumer saves at least Rs.1,250 by not frequently buying ordinary bulbs.”
Power Minister Piyush Goyal had repeatedly emphasised that the country would save 100 billion units of electricity a year by switching over to LED, which, he said, translated to a saving of Rs.40,000 crore across all households.
Switching to LEDs also helps the government meet its carbon dioxide emission reduction targets, since lower power consumption will eventually result in lower power production and hydrocarbon use .
According to the website of the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP), the government has sold 9.17 crore LED bulbs as of April 6, the utilisation of which would result in a reduction of 26,451 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day, or almost 10 million tonnes a year. To put it in perspective, 10 million tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to nearly 54 million railcar worth of coal burned.
Under the Street Light National Programme, the government has converted 7,50,780 streetlights to LED, which, according to the programme website, has resulted in a saving of more than 2.72 lakh units of electricity per day.
And, the new line of fans will only add to this environmentally-friendly endeavour.
“The cooling needs of most of the households in India are met by fans, given that the penetration of ACs in households is still less than 10 per cent,” EESL stated in a release, following the announcement of its line of energy efficient fans. “The average rating of the fans installed and sold in the market is between 75-80 W, whereas energy efficient fans provide the same level of comfort at about 45-50 W.”
“There are 35 crore inefficient fans across the country. If all of these are replaced with BEE 5-star rated energy efficient fans, the country will have an expected annual energy savings of 47 billion KWh with a reduction of over 12,250 MW of electricity load,” EESL added.
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