The single LED Blub that Saved Me $100,000

[Bob W]

So I was putting in another LED outside yesterday.   

I paid $5 for a 60 watt yellow spectrum light.   

Cost to replace 1 incandescent once per year = 50 cents,   investment loss for a $5 bulb = 50 cents.  A wash.

Savings in electricity per year  = 6 bucks.

Cost to replace the LED after 20 years of use =0 (yeah they will be damn near that cheap in 20 years)

So in a lifetime (60 years approximately) my compounded savings and investment will equal around $100,000 give or take.

That is 100 K from one light bulb!   (of course the inflation adjusted deal is more like 15K, but that still rocks!)

Now if I do the math a bit from the 17 bulbs I replaced already my grandkids will have a whopping 255K because grandpa could use a ladder and do math.

Moral of the story --- get the ladder and change the bulbs.   (and yes when you move, the bulbs move too)(and yes that $3 per day on Starbucks is an astronomical amount your future self or grandkids would like to have)

[MDM]

Savings in electricity per year  = 6 bucks.

Cost to replace the LED after 20 years of use =0 (yeah they will be damn near that cheap in 20 years)

So in a lifetime (60 years approximately) my compounded savings and investment will equal around $100,000 give or take.

This looks at the Future Value of $6/yr (or $0.50/mo) compounded annually (or monthly) at some interest rate, correct?  If one can get annual returns in the 12.9% (compounded monthly) to 13.8% (compounded annually) range, then yes in 60 years $100,000 is yours (or your heirs).

For a more reasonable ~7.9% return it would take $6/month (or $72/yr) to get that $100K.  Still a great number!

[Bob W]

Savings in electricity per year  = 6 bucks.

Cost to replace the LED after 20 years of use =0 (yeah they will be damn near that cheap in 20 years)

So in a lifetime (60 years approximately) my compounded savings and investment will equal around $100,000 give or take.

This looks at the Future Value of $6/yr (or $0.50/mo) compounded annually (or monthly) at some interest rate, correct?  If one can get annual returns in the 12.9% (compounded monthly) to 13.8% (compounded annually) range, then yes in 60 years $100,000 is yours (or your heirs).

For a more reasonable ~7.9% return it would take $6/month (or $72/yr) to get that $100K.  Still a great number!

I'll go with the 13% annual avg return.   8% might be an average future return on something like an S and P but a decent mustachian should be able to achieve well above average.   Real estate rental property in many areas of the Midwest can achieve this.  I realize that is though on the coasts though.

But you're right,  it isn't the rate that matters so much as the amazing effect that just one small light bulb can have on the future of money.   My future grand kids will love their dead grandpa's estate!

Here's a funny one -- At  MMM's present net worth (around 4 million including the value of the web site I believe)  and assuming he continues to invest, if he lives a full life, he'll become a billionaire before he dies.   

[The Architect]

On a related note, look around at home improvement stores for cheap bulbs in this holiday season. I found (and loaded up on) some on some kind of deal for a fairly reasonable $4 (40W) and $5 (60W).

[Bob W]

I bought the 60 watt 2300K LED at HD for 4.75.  Thought that was a pretty good deal as some were priced twice that much.   I'm using this particular light for outside porch, so it will probably run 4 hours per night.  But since it is so cheap to operate (about 1/10th a cent per hour?) I may leave them on all night for security purposes. 

I'm really enjoying the 16 dimmable LED can lights I changed out a couple of weeks ago.   They are yellowish like incandescents and I like being able to dim them down to the level that feels right at night.

I don't worry about flipping the switch every time I go from one room to another.   So for about 5 cents per night my interior stays nicely lit. 

Can it really be that the entire lighting for my home costs less than $2 per month?   

I wish everyone in the US would convert to LEDS asap. 

Would be curious to know what will happen to light bulb companies though.   If every light went LED, they wouldn't sell many more lights for the next 10 years.

[mustachemayhem]

60watt seemslike a lot for an LED bulb. Are you sure they aren't 60 watt equivalent which would be closer to 10 watts? It's surprising how quickly the price has dropped has dropped on led bulbs. I bought some CREE 60watt equivalent bulbs for ~$10 at home depot a few months back when they were on sale. I think at $5 a piece it definately makes the led's more attractive. A lot of people are already running CFL which makes the switch to led less attractive.

[Bob W]

60watt seemslike a lot for an LED bulb. Are you sure they aren't 60 watt equivalent which would be closer to 10 watts? It's surprising how quickly the price has dropped has dropped on led bulbs. I bought some CREE 60watt equivalent bulbs for ~$10 at home depot a few months back when they were on sale. I think at $5 a piece it definately makes the led's more attractive. A lot of people are already running CFL which makes the switch to led less attractive.

Yes, I'm sorry I didn't clarify they are 60 watt equivalent.  It is so easy because the package says 60 in big letters.  I think they use 9 watts.

I can see people hanging on to CFLs because of their sunk cost.   In my experience they won't have to wait long as any CFL I had (and I've tried many)  generally last less than 2 years.  YMMV.  The guy at the light isle of HD and I had a good laugh about this.  His view was that CFLs are highly overly optimistic about their life span.   

Shop the light isle each time you're in HD or Lowes etc..  There seems to be a deal on LEDs everytime I'm there.   All the boxes next to these were $10.   The $5 ones are twice as nice!

[deborah]

I replaced 33 halogen light bulbs for LEDs about eight years ago now. After some problems with a poor batch (they were replaced for free within 6 months) I have not replaced a bulb for YEARS! It is fantastic. Are you saying that I have saved $100,000 x 33? I know our electricity usage went down significantly (can't quantify it because we did several things at the same time and halved our electricity bill).

[LackOfSense]

Bob W, thanks for the idea. I just bought 8 CREE LED bulbs off ebay. I found that certain Home Depots sell them for $4.97 based on location while others charge around $10. None around me in Florida had them for the lower price. I ended up paying $6 for each of mine. Still not bad since the kw/h cost here is 12.45 cents and they should pay for themselves in the first year (given I use them 3 hours a day every day). Thanks!

[justajane]

Costco has the best value on various LEDs that I've seen. The other day I saw LED floods there for $5 a piece.

[TomTX]

I must have very clean power.  My CFLs last freaking forever. I have several I know I bought for the last house, so 10+ years old. They are quite bulky,  so were moved to the attic this year when we started deployment of LED in a big way. Using a socket splitters, I have 2 per socket in the attic now and I can actually see up there. Slow wa up isn't a problem,  I don't go up a lot and the switch is down in the garage.