LED bulbs and energy label renewal – a guide to more energy-efficient home lighting

Turn off the lights when you leave the room, use as much natural light as possible and keep the lamps clean of dust. These are common and tried-and-true tips for rationalizing lighting that we're sure to have heard of. But what else should we know about energy-efficient lighting and how can we make the lighting in our home even less energy-consuming?

Depending on the type of living, home lighting may cause a significant slice of the electricity bill, varying approximately between 2–10 %. Next, we'll get to know different types of bulbs and focus especially on LED light sources, which you can use to save a large amount of money on home lighting costs.

Different types of bulbs

Halogen bulbs are lighting solutions suitable for smaller spaces, with an average consumption of 10–50 kWh per 1000 h. They are already more energy-efficient alternatives than traditional incandescent light bulbs and can often be dimmed and targeted to a certain position. Halogen bulbs are especially suitable for creating accent and spot lighting or for appliances such as ovens, for example.

On the other hand, energy-saving bulbs, which are well suited for general lighting, already have a longer life than halogen bulbs, and by using them, you can both reduce your electricity bill and take care of the environment. They have worked especially as natural followers to basic light bulbs, and their light output is already better than in a traditional light bulb. Energy-saving bulbs can last up to 10 000 hours, but they light up more slowly than other bulbs and usually cannot withstand cold.

LED bulbs have absolute trump cards that cannot be found in other bulb types. They consume up to 20 % less energy than halogen bulbs and up to 90 % less energy compared to traditional light bulbs, yet they produce light just as efficiently – if not more efficiently. LED bulbs also light up immediately, they don't get hot during use, and they have a very long life of around 30 000 hours up to 50 000 hours.

Why should you invest in LED bulbs?

LED bulbs are particularly suitable for general home lighting and are currently the most energy-efficient choice for lighting. Their average power varies from 1,5 watts to 10 watts, so they consume less energy compared to, for example, halogen bulbs. The service life of LED bulbs can be several dozens of years, thanks to which their more expensive price compared to other bulbs pays for itself over time. Nowadays, a large part of the bulbs are already LEDs, and the LED lamp technology is still constantly developing.

In addition to general lighting, it is also worth considering the purchase of LED Christmas lights and light chains when it comes to decorative and seasonal lighting, as they consume less electricity compared to old decorative light strings. A good guideline when comparing the consumption of light chains is the number of lamps they contain – the more lamps one light set has, the more electricity it presumably consumes. Although there are no radical differences between the electricity consumption of LED light sets, by checking the wattage you can at least get a rough estimate of how big of an electricity bill it will cause.

In the attached chart, we have calculated the costs of using one 5-watt LED light chain or bulb when the price of electricity is 0,40 €/kWh.

The chart above clearly shows that the use of a LED bulb does not cause large costs to the electricity bill, even when measured by everyday use. When a LED bulb is compared to a 30-watt halogen bulb at the same electricity prices, there are already higher readings for the use of one bulb.

Adjust energy consumption with timers and dimmers

In addition to purchasing LED bulbs, you can pay attention to their thoughtful and rational use. If the lights are left on too often, for example when you leave the bathroom, various timers and motion detectors can make your everyday life easier and save electricity. With the help of timers, you can set the lights to turn on and off at specific times, and motion detectors installed in corridors, yards or toilets both turn themselves off and save you and your guests from searching for a light switch.

Several LED bulbs and lamps are equipped with a convenient dimming feature, which, depending on the bulb, works either with a separate dimmer or, for example, via a smartphone application. In this way, you can easily control the bulbs to not be turned on at their full power all the time, but instead you can enjoy a pleasant, dimmer lighting in the evening while saving electricity.

By making sensible choices when choosing bulbs and by controlling the lighting correctly, you can save up to 20 % on lighting costs and make your daily chores a little smoother. When the lights are only on when there is a genuine need for them, you positively affect your own electricity bill and make your home's lighting even more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

The energy label renewal makes it easier to compare bulbs

Common energy labels for the entire European Union area were standardized for bulbs and lamps on 1.9.2021, and light source retailers are required to display the new energy labels by 1.3.2023 at the latest. Until March 2023, the new and old energy labels will still run side by side. With the renewal, the energy efficiency scale A–G is the same for all products instead of the previous +-ratings. In the future, all light sources brought to the market must have an energy label and must be found in the product database EPREL.

Updating the energy labelling of light sources means that you can more easily get information about their actual energy consumption, and you can compare different bulbs even better than before. The energy label contains information about the bulb's consumption in kilowatt hours and its energy efficiency class. The EPREL database also contains other useful information about the bulb’s features, such as dimming, lighting technology, dimensions, colour temperature and direction of light.

The renewal considers the developing and future technologies, while serving LED technology brilliantly, as its development can be aimed towards the best A-class. With the help of the new energy label, information about the energy consumption is better available, thanks to which the properties and other information contained in them are also much more transparent than before. When buying new bulbs and lamps, you can check their energy labels and thus end up at more sensible solutions for lighting your home.