What’s the difference between incandescent, halogen, CFL and LED light bulbs?

If you’re looking to replace or add lighting to your home or business, your head might be swimming with all the different types of light bulbs available.  Which one is the best for office work?  Which one is better for general home use?  Before we dive into these questions, let’s take a look at the differences between these four different light bulbs.

Incandescent: annual cost is about $7 per bulb, and lasts about 1,000 hours.

Halogen: annual cost of about $5 per bulb, is 28% more efficient than incandescent, and lasts about 3,000 hours.

CFL: fluorescent lighting that costs about $1.75 per bulb per year, 75% more efficient than incandescent, and lasts about 10,000 hours; popular in many office settings, but recent studies have shown a link between fluorescent lighting and mood/sleep disturbances.

LED: annual cost of about $1.19 per bulb, is 83% more efficient than incandescent, and lasts about 25,000.  Its popularity has soared in the past couple of decades due its longevity and annual cost savings.

If you’re deciding on what type of bulb to use, we highly recommend LED lighting for the majority of your lighting needs.  The drastically reduced replacement schedule coupled with the annual cost efficiency makes it an obvious choice for most of our household and office needs.  There is nothing wrong with choosing the other types of bulbs, but be aware of the difference in annual cost, efficiency, colour temperature availability and maintenance.