Ask Me Help Desk - Cost of burning a light bulb?

I have a nagging husband that is convinced that I am costing him an arm and leg leaving too many lights on in our home. If there is more than one on that is too many he says. This is driving me crazy. Most of the lights in our home are just the standard light bulbs. Most of them are 60 watts however a few are 100 watts. Foregive me I am not too bright when it comes to electricity but I do think the wattage has something to do with how much electricity they pull. Hence the more wattage the more money you're paying to burn it I think. We do have some fluorescent lighting in our home as well. He says these lights cost less to burn. Which I do believe I have heard before. Can someone please tell me about how much it costs to run a 100 watt light bulb for an hour? Does fluorescent lighting really cost less? And also, is it true that turning the light on and off costs more than just continually leaving it running if you are going to need it again within the next 30 minutes?If my husband is right then so be it but at least I will know Thank You!!

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Originally Posted by sara356

I have a nagging husband that is convinced that I am costing him an arm and leg leaving too many lights on in our home. If there is more than one on that is too many he says. This is driving me crazy. Most of the lights in our home are just the standard light bulbs. Most of them are 60 watts however a few are 100 watts. Foregive me I am not too bright when it comes to electricity but I do think the wattage has something to do with how much electricity they pull. Hence the more wattage the more money you're paying to burn it I think. We do have some florescent lighting in our home as well. He says these lights cost less to burn. Which I do believe I have heard before. Can someone please tell me about how much it costs to run a 100 watt light bulb for an hour? Does florescent lighting really cost less? And also, is it true that turning the light on and off costs more than just continually leaving it running if you are going to need it again within the next 30 minutes?If my husband is right then so be it but at least I will know Thank You!!!!

Yes florescents use less. About 15 years ago when my son left home I was staying with my boy friend so I experimented. My fridge cost $10 a month with no one opening the door. The next month I turned a 60watt bulb on. That cost a whole dollar. Rates have gone up a little since then. Thing that cause a change in temperature or movement pull much more than a light.

Want to watch the meter? There are two Kill a Watt devices on this page: Safe Home Products - Product Match

One is a bit more sophisticated that the other because it does projections and tries to calculate a real cost.

Electricity is measured in Killowatt-hours or 1000 Watts in one hour. 1 KWH of electricity probably costs somewhere near $.15/KWH. Check your electric bill.

A 100 W lamp is 0.1 KW and if it burns for 1 hour, it uses 0.1 KWH. At $0.15/KWH, the cost to run this bulb is 1.5 cents/hour.

Wattage is only one variable when it comes to lighting. Incadesent lamps (the STANDARD light bulb)are less efficient than Flouresent lamps, so the parameter lumens/watt tells you how bright the light per the power required to create light. LED lamps will be overtaking the standard light bulb. The higher the number, the better. Incadesent lamps also contribute heat to the surroundings as well and not all lamps have the same spectra or color. To further complicate lighting, the eye has different sensitivites to colors.

A standard light bulb may burn 15 times it's rated power for an instant when it starts up, but that doesn't contribute significantly to electricity consumption, but rather the lamp might burn out sooner.

So, turn off lights when not in use. Use Flourescents or LED lamps when possible.
There are 3-way compact flourescents that can be considered too.

For more information see: Fluorescent Lighting Energy Savings and Product Comparisons