Recessed Lighting & Electricity Bill Use

Recessed Lighting

• Recessed lighting is flat with the ceiling or surface, enclosed in a framework for safety. You may control recessed lighting so that it is directional, shining in a specific area for emphasis. Recessed lighting is common under kitchen cabinets, convenient for reading recipes or checking measurements. Recessed down lights offer excellent hallway and bathroom lighting and are the most common lighting in new construction. Energy efficiency and lower electric bills result from the use of LED and CFL bulbs in recessed lighting. If you continue to use incandescent bulbs in your recessed lighting, you’ll see some reduction in your electricity use because even newer incandescent bulbs have increased efficiency.

Compact Fluorescent Lighting

• A 65-watt incandescent bulb produces 725 lumens, reports the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Division of the Department of Energy. A 13-watt or 15-watt CFL produces equivalent lighting at one-fourth the energy use. Energy Star, a joint effort of the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, rates these curly fluorescent bulbs. A CFL light bulb meeting Energy Star standards lasts 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb and produces the same light at a quarter of the cost.

LED Lighting

• Light-emitting diodes offer more efficiency than compact fluorescent lighting. You’ll find LED bulbs available for recessed lighting, although they're more expensive than CFL bulbs or incandescent bulbs. Energy Star rates LED light bulbs. Qualifying LED bulbs use 20 to 25 percent of the electricity required for incandescent bulbs and last 25 times longer. The Department of Energy expects the price of LED bulbs to go down as more products become available. Although the initial cost is high, LED bulbs in your recessed lighting give the best savings on your electric bill over the life of the bulbs.

New Lighting Standards

• New lighting standards phased in from 2012 through 2014 require 25 percent more efficiency. The watts of energy used to produce the lumens must decrease. The standard 100-watt incandescent bulb doesn't meet lighting standards in 2012, but efficient incandescent bulbs are available. The pre-2012 standard 100-watt incandescent light bulb produced about 1,600 lumens of light. A 72-watt incandescent bulb produces the same lighting and lumens under the new standards. Your electricity use may decrease as you use CFL and LED recessed lighting or more efficient incandescent bulbs. If the cost per kilowatt-hour doesn’t increase, you'll enjoy a lower electric bill.