I decided to drop into Aldi today and purchase one of their 5W LED GU10 lights. My desire is to test the output against the 35W halogen globe. I've found I've been disappointed by some low energy lights because the light output isn't sufficient. So how did the Aldi light go? Pretty good I thought. The light output as measured by a light meter is lower than the 35 watt halogen globe, but not significantly.
For me the best thing is I can now buy a two sets of three lights from another retailer for around the same price, but the other retailer has lights with a higher light output.
I use my Energy Cost Calculator (http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/energy-cost/) to help me make informed buying decisions. For example we use the lights for around an hour a day in each room. There are three halogen GU10 lights which consume 35W each and thus 105W all together. The LED lights consume 5W each making the total 15W. I plug in 105W for 1 hour per day and then I plug in 15W and the cost of $29.18 (for three lights from the retailer, unfortunately bought in packs of four lights) and I get a payback of 41 months. If the lights actually last anything near the 25,000 hours after about three and a half years they lights have paid for themselves and I pocket the electricity saving. A pretty good deal I feel.
The hard part is actually letting go of the existing perfectly good GU10 halogen globes. It is hard to part with them but the reality is by swapping over the lights I'll recover their cost within a year. None of this takes into account that electricity prices continue to rise every year so the payback is even quicker.
Also keep in mind the lights I use are 35W GU10. Originally I used 50W halogen globes. If I was still using the 50W globes the payback would be even faster. The hard concept to grasp with low energy lights is they come with a higher up front cost. The higher energy using globes can be very cheap in comparison. You have to be careful but if you buy on an informed basis by using the Energy Cost Calculator to determine payback periods, you can pay more up front but save in the long run. To me anything that brings down that electricity bill is welcome.
Thanks Aldi. Whilst the output of your lights is a little low for me, I do appreciate the opportunity to test the lights.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
For me the best thing is I can now buy a two sets of three lights from another retailer for around the same price, but the other retailer has lights with a higher light output.
I use my Energy Cost Calculator (http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/energy-cost/) to help me make informed buying decisions. For example we use the lights for around an hour a day in each room. There are three halogen GU10 lights which consume 35W each and thus 105W all together. The LED lights consume 5W each making the total 15W. I plug in 105W for 1 hour per day and then I plug in 15W and the cost of $29.18 (for three lights from the retailer, unfortunately bought in packs of four lights) and I get a payback of 41 months. If the lights actually last anything near the 25,000 hours after about three and a half years they lights have paid for themselves and I pocket the electricity saving. A pretty good deal I feel.
The hard part is actually letting go of the existing perfectly good GU10 halogen globes. It is hard to part with them but the reality is by swapping over the lights I'll recover their cost within a year. None of this takes into account that electricity prices continue to rise every year so the payback is even quicker.
Also keep in mind the lights I use are 35W GU10. Originally I used 50W halogen globes. If I was still using the 50W globes the payback would be even faster. The hard concept to grasp with low energy lights is they come with a higher up front cost. The higher energy using globes can be very cheap in comparison. You have to be careful but if you buy on an informed basis by using the Energy Cost Calculator to determine payback periods, you can pay more up front but save in the long run. To me anything that brings down that electricity bill is welcome.
Thanks Aldi. Whilst the output of your lights is a little low for me, I do appreciate the opportunity to test the lights.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
I returned and purchased of couple of Aldi's 8W bayonet LED lights. They feel solid and when I replaced a low energy (14W) compact fluorescent with the 8W LED it was considerably brighter. Happy with the purchase.
ReplyDeleteKelvin