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Autumn is fast approaching, and with it comes Halloween. Don’t be scared by the modern technology that is LED lighting – embrace it with its massive advantages.

Have you ever heard of ‘phantom load’ or ‘vampire power’? These scary terms refer to the energy that is wasted by appliances being left on standby mode. Sometimes it’s because of a digital clock, sometimes it’s down to them still being connected to Wi-Fi. Even though you think you’ve turned something off, ‘ghost load’ can be around 10% of the total electricity you use at home – meaning £100 being wasted on electricity without you knowing!

The best thing to do here is to make sure that everything you don’t need to use is unplugged, or set to switch off rather than entering standby mode.

However, the best way to save electricity is by making a few small switches to how you light your home – namely, by installing LEDs in place of your light bulbs.

Switch and Save

It might sound frightening to swap your light bulbs over, but once you see how much you can save on your lighting, the benefits are clear.  LEDs can use around 90% less electricity than their incandescent counterparts do, whilst still providing the same bright light output. You don’t have to worry about adapting your existing fittings or pendants, because LEDs are easily retrofitted, coming in a wide range of different fittings.

You can replace B22 bayonet fittings, GU10 spotlights, and E27 screw cap fittings without the need for adapters – just slot them in normally! You won’t have an energy-bill horror show, either.

Imagine, for example, that your home uses a total of 10 60W incandescent light bulbs. It may be higher or lower, based on how you light your home, but this is just an example. At an average cost of 12.5p per kWh, and an average of the light being switched on for eight hours a day, this would work out to cost you 60p per day. For an entire year, your lighting would cost you around £219!

Now, let’s do the same calculations with LEDs. Our B22 6W OMNI-LED Clear Globe Bulb replaces a 60W incandescent and provides the same brightness of light, with a power usage of just 6W. Using ten of them, for eight hours a day, works out at just 6p per day. A year’s usage works out at just £21.90. This means that you could save £197.10 on your lighting bills – each year! All you have to do is make the simple switch to LEDs.

Lengthy Life Expectancies

LEDs are, unfortunately, still more expensive to produce and buy than incandescents. However, the advantages far outweigh the upfront costs. An incandescent bulb costs around £1 to buy, whereas this LED costs around £4 at the time of writing. This means that ten LEDs cost £40, whereas ten incandescents cost £10.

However, the lifespans are very different. An incandescent lasts for around 1,200 hours, whereas this LED lasts for 30,000 hours. Used for eight hours a day, this works out at just 150 days for the incandescent, and over ten years for the LED. This LED actually lasts 25 times longer than the incandescent does!

Not only does this mean that your LEDs will still be lighting up your Halloween parties in ten years’ time, it also means that you’d have to buy 25 incandescents in this meantime. This means that you’d be paying £25 on incandescents in the same time that you’d have spent £4 on one LED. Apply to this to your entire house, and the cost differences are clear.

Ten incandescents over ten years would cost £250 to buy, and £2190 to run, totalling £2240.

Ten LEDs over ten years would cost £40 to buy, and £219 to run, costing £259 in total. The difference is really vast, and leaves much more money to sort out the perfect Halloween costume!

Versatility of LEDs

You also have to remember, LEDs have come a long way in the last few years. You can now get dimmable LEDs with ease, so you can create the best mood lighting – perfect for creating a spooky atmosphere at your Halloween parties!

However, if you want to shun the spooky mood, and go for an all-out party atmosphere, you can get colour-changing LEDs that don’t rely on mechanical colour filters or individually coloured bulbs like incandescents of the past. You can buy traditional-looking light bulbs that have colour-changing features at the touch of a button, or even a rotating mirror ball, with 18 RGB LEDs.

Even more flexible are our incredible LED strip lights. You can create custom lighting patterns to truly light up your party, for a spooktacular event.

Super Halloween

Planning a Halloween party can be terrifying, but if you can keep on top of your energy usage, you’ll enjoy it a lot more. Make the switch to LEDs in time for the festivities, and keep on top of the frights of an energy bill.

If you need to talk to our customer service team about the amazing benefits of LEDs, then don’t be afraid to get in touch. Call us on 0116 321 4120, email us at cs@wled.co.uk, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.