LED vs CFL vs Incandescent: The True 10-Year Cost (2024)

TL;DR: Over 10 years of typical use (3 hours a day), one incandescent bulb costs about $116 in electricity and replacements, a CFL costs about $28, and an LED costs about $20. Swap out 30 bulbs in an average house and you're looking at roughly $2,880 in savings switching from incandescent to LED, with the LED bulb itself often outlasting the entire decade.

_Last reviewed: July 2026 · 7 min read_

You've probably stood in the bulb aisle wondering if the pricier LED is really worth it, or if that's just marketing. It is worth it, and the math isn't close once you run the electricity costs and replacement counts side by side.

Okoniq Property Hub logs which bulbs you've replaced and where, so you're not guessing whether that hallway fixture is due for another swap.

How much does each bulb type actually cost to run?

The electricity bill is where the real difference shows up, not the sticker price at the store. A 60-watt incandescent bulb running 3 hours a day for 10 years burns through about 657 kWh, which at the national average of $0.16 per kWh comes to roughly $105 in electricity alone.

A CFL that puts out the same light using 14 watts costs about $24.50 in electricity over that same stretch. An LED doing the job on 9 watts costs about $15.75. The gap between $105 and $16 per bulb is the whole story, and it multiplies fast once you count every fixture in the house.

If your home still has a mix of older wiring alongside these fixtures, it's worth checking whether you're dealing with knob-and-tube wiring before you assume the savings will show up cleanly on your meter.

How many bulbs will you actually buy over 10 years?

Replacement count matters almost as much as the wattage. An incandescent bulb rated for 1,000 hours needs replacing about 11 times over a decade of 3-hours-a-day use, at roughly $1 each, adding about $11 to the total.

A CFL rated for 9,000 hours needs replacing once, maybe twice, adding $3 to $5. An LED rated for 25,000 hours often outlasts the entire 10-year period on a single bulb, so you might spend $4 total and never touch that fixture again. Add it all up and incandescent lands around $116, CFL around $28, and LED around $20 per socket.

| | Incandescent | CFL | LED | |---|---|---|---| | Watts (60W equivalent) | 60W | 14W | 9W | | Rated lifespan | 1,000 hrs | 9,000 hrs | 25,000 hrs | | 10-year electricity cost | ~$105 | ~$24.50 | ~$15.75 | | Bulb replacement cost | ~$11 | ~$3 | ~$4 | | Total 10-year cost | ~$116 | ~$28 | ~$20 |

Is LED really that much better than CFL if CFL already saves money?

Yes, and the $8 gap per bulb isn't the whole reason. CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, which means broken bulbs need careful cleanup and burned-out ones can't just go in the trash in most states. LEDs have no mercury and no special disposal rules.

CFLs also lose brightness over their lifespan and can flicker or take a few seconds to warm up in cold garages or unheated porches. LEDs hit full brightness instantly and hold their output closer to day 9,000 than a CFL does. For older homeowners dealing with ladders and fixtures that are a hassle to reach, buying an LED once and forgetting it for a decade is worth more than the few dollars a CFL might save upfront.

Does the math change for high-use fixtures versus rarely-used ones?

Yes, significantly. A porch light or kitchen fixture running 8+ hours a day will hit an incandescent's 1,000-hour lifespan in about 4 months, meaning you're replacing that bulb 30 times over a decade instead of 11. That pushes the incandescent total for high-use sockets closer to $300, while the LED in the same fixture still lands under $40.

A closet light used 10 minutes a day barely matters either way, since none of these bulbs will burn out from that little use. The upgrade priority should be your porch lights, kitchen fixtures, and any bulb behind a ceiling fan or in a hard-to-reach spot, not the closet you open twice a week.

If you're upgrading fixtures anyway, it's a reasonable time to check your panel capacity too. Older homes running on 100 amp service rarely run into trouble from lighting swaps, but it's worth knowing before you add anything else to the circuit.

What's the payback period if you switch everything at once?

Switching a whole house of 30 bulbs from incandescent to LED typically pays for itself in under 2 years just from the electricity savings, before you even factor in the replacement bulbs you're not buying. If you're doing the swap alongside other electrical work, like replacing 2-prong outlets or updating old fixtures, it's an efficient time to knock both out together since you're already pulling covers off and checking wiring anyway.

FAQ

Do LED bulbs really last 25,000 hours in real homes?

Most rated LEDs get close to their stated lifespan under normal indoor use, though heat buildup in fully enclosed fixtures can shorten it by 20% to 30%. Look for "enclosed fixture rated" on the box if your fixture doesn't have open airflow.

Is it worth replacing incandescent bulbs before they burn out?

For high-use fixtures like kitchens and porches, yes, since the electricity savings alone pay back the LED cost in under a year. For rarely-used bulbs like closets, it's fine to wait until they burn out naturally.

Why do CFLs still cost more than LEDs even though both are efficient?

CFLs use roughly 50% more wattage than LEDs for the same light output and have a shorter lifespan, so both the electricity bill and the replacement count run higher over 10 years.

Are LED bulbs safe to use with dimmer switches?

Only if the bulb is labeled dimmable and paired with an LED-compatible dimmer switch. Standard incandescent dimmers can cause flickering or shorten LED bulb life significantly.

Does bulb color temperature affect the cost comparison?

No, the wattage and lifespan drive the cost, not whether you choose warm white or daylight. Color temperature is purely a preference choice and doesn't change the electricity math.

This is educational information, not electrical or financial advice. Call a licensed electrician if you're unsure about your home's wiring capacity before adding new fixtures or higher-wattage lighting.