Project plans and electrical wiring costs, including labor, will affect your costs. Keep reading to learn how much LED lights cost.
The price of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs, dimmers, and strips is becoming more affordable. These lights are among the most energy-efficient on the market, but the most significant factor affecting the cost is what you plan to do with them.
Replacing incandescent and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs with LED bulbs will cost about $5 to $7 for a 10-Watt LED. Therefore, if you change 24 bulbs, it will cost $120 to $168 to replace those all at once.
You can usually find bulk discounts when purchasing multiple LED bulbs. For instance, check out the cost of this 6-pack of bulbs on Amazon. Keep in mind when doing this to check for the wattage of the bulb; lower-watt bulbs will be cheaper to operate than higher-watt ones.
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10W LED lamps are the standard bulb replacement for 60-100W incandescent lamps. LED lights use lumens rather than watts. Refer to the chart below for the appropriate LED lamp to use to replace an incandescent bulb, along with the average price.
Comparable LED lamp size and price for standard incandescent bulbs. Incandescent Watts LED Watts Lumens Cost per Bulb (Average) 40W 6W LED 450 lm $3 60W 8.5W LED 800 lm $5 75W 10W LED 1,000 lm $7 100W 15W LED 1,600 lm $9 150W 25W LED 2,500 lm $12Even though the initial cost might be more, these long-lasting and highly-durable lights will save significant energy and, therefore, money over time. Try our electricity cost calculator to calculate the energy cost of LED bulbs.
The new smart LED bulbs used with voice-controlled services cost anywhere from $25 to $150 per bulb. These bulbs are capable of voice-activated color change, dimming, and on/off capabilities from a remote location.
There are even LED smart lights with built-in video recording capabilities with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Many call these nanny cams so you can discreetly keep an eye on the nanny or babysitter.
Color-changing bulbs will also cost a bit more than a typical LED bulb, but they offer the ability to control the mood using a smartphone or remote control.
LED light strips offer a slick way to add accent lighting in many applications. You can add backlighting for a piece of art, add under-cabinet or under-bed lighting, or add a glow to pretty much any indirect surface using the strips.
Strips often come with an adhesive backing and a low-voltage power supply, meaning nearly anyone can install them without the need for an electrician or an expensive set of tools. The strips often cost from $10 for a standard white strip to up to $50 for a color-changing variety.
If you want these installed professionally, expect to pay between $7 and $20 per foot to have them mounted beneath countertops, inside glass block walls, or in cabinet kick-plates.
One way to upgrade to LED lighting is to replace the entire light fixture with a new fixture that has integrated LED lighting instead of standard bulb sockets. Fixtures usually cost between $100 and $150 and require an electrician for the installation.
Track or string lights are an easy method to get targeted and personal lights for any room. Track lights are particularly popular in kitchens, studies, and crafting areas so the user can point the light where they need it.
Otherwise, you could set up a string of lights to point out artwork or prints to make these a highlight for your room. Track lights usually have six or more lights on the track and cost about $50 to $200 for a simple style, but elaborate styles can cost as much as $1,500.
A handyman can install track lights with a cord that plugs into a wall socket. They will usually hang the track with sheetrock screws or the screws that came with the track lighting kit.
However, when wiring must be changed or added, an electrician must be used. Where there is already a ceiling light fixture, they can hook into those wires without installing more. Figure 2-3 hours and between $150 and $600 for labor.
DIY LED light projects are typically minimal for projects like changing the light bulbs or installing new fixtures. If you don’t have the tools, time, or knowledge, a handyperson will charge $40 to $80 for a small project.
Most other projects likely require a permit and a licensed electrician. Licensed electricians charge $50 to $200 per hour, depending on the going rate in your area.
LED lights have equal or, in many cases, better quality than comparable incandescent or CFL lights. (The comparison to CFLs is likely moot since most companies discontinued production of these due to the toxic mercury disposal problems.) LEDs will continue to save you money on your energy bills for a long time after installation.
Many new and repair lighting projects can use LED lighting indoors and out. These LED lights will save you nearly 85 percent on your electric bill, produce less heat, and some last up to 35 or 40,000 hours.
The estimated savings for the average homeowner by replacing 24 incandescent bulbs with LEDs is nearly $7,000 over twenty years. Likewise, you should consider using solar-powered lamps where practical, for even more savings. These are also becoming more affordable.
For that “warm cozy” feeling, choose warm-white LED bulbs. Cool white is a light blue, and natural bulbs are somewhere between those colors. New smart lights come in a variety of colors.
Calculate how much you’ll save by upgrading to LED lighting using our lighting cost calculator.
LED lights save money because they use less energy to operate. For the same light output, LEDs use fewer watts, which means they use less energy when operated for the same amount of time as an incandescent bulb.
Not convinced of the savings? Use our watts to kWh calculator to calculate the amount of energy a 60W light bulb uses when left on for 8 hours compared to a 10W bulb. You should come up with 14.4 kWh per 60W bulb per day.
When you multiply that by 12 cents per hour, you’ll see that a single 60W bulb that’s used for 8 hours per day costs $1.73 per month. How many light bulbs do you have in your home?
Depending on how much you spend per lamp and how often they’re used, the payback period is usually 4-8 months per bulb when you upgrade to LED.
When you choose to install new LED lights, and you need to do more than change the bulb or mount the light on the wall, you will probably require an electrician. To get estimates for wiring, circuit panels, and other electrical projects, try our contractor locator.
You might also be interested in our under-cabinet lighting cost guide.
All pricing information on this page is based on average industry costs, and is subject to variance for project-specific materials, labor rates, and requirements.
There are several different types of LED lighting fixtures that are well suited for street and roadway lighting. Below are some of the most popular types.
Cobrahead Street Lights - These are one of the most traditional type of roadway lighting on the market. Street lights offer a streamlined and straightforward approach, while also providing very intense lighting output. Our LED street light fixtures have a maximum 150 watt range that outputs 6,500 lumens.
Slipfitter Mount Flood Lights - A popular choice for applications with existing square or round poles. Slipfitter mount flood lights are designed to “slip” over top of the pole, with wiring conveniently run down the middle of the pole, eliminating any wiring hassles for a clean looking installation.
Extruded Arm Mount Flood Lights - These lights are designed to attach to poles or other vertical surfaces that allow for a 90° mounting angle. Due to their fixed non-adjustable nature, extruded arm mount flood lights are one of the most durable options available for street and highway lighting.
Mountless LED Flood Lights - These lights offer a unique option for those who are looking to fabricate their own custom mounting solutions. Our mountless LED flood lights come in a variety of wattage outputs, maxing out at 400 watts and 51,343 lumens.
It should go without saying that roadway illumination is key to ensuring safe and efficient travel on roadways for all types of traffic. This is especially true in congested urban areas with mixed roadway usage and pedestrian foot traffic. Many of these roadways were also not designed to handle the large amount of traffic they currently receive, which makes proper illumination even more critical. In these situations, LED cobra head and high powered flood lights are the most popular choices for streets and roadways to ensure the best possible performance.
Highways handle large amounts of high speed traffic, which makes proper illumination absolutely critical for safety and efficient roadway usage. With many highways still being illuminated by old style lighting systems designed for a time when traffic was slower and less congested, there is a strong need for upgrading to modern light technology. LED highway lights are perfect for this application, with cobra head style lights being the go-to choice for maximum illumination performance and durability.
Commercial and industrial parking lots are some of the largest paved areas in existence requiring high performance illumination. Because of the obvious safety concerns surrounding pedestrian traffic being intermixed with vehicles backing in and out, quality lighting is paramount. LED street lights are the perfect solution for this application, providing strong and broad illumination over wide areas of a parking lot.
With today's crowded streets, highways and roadways quality lighting is vital for efficient and safe traffic flow. Luckily lighting technology has kept pace with this ever increasing traffic flow thanks to improvements in LED technology over the past decade. In fact, modern street lighting is almost exclusively LED now, with HIDs and sodium lamps largely being a thing of the past. There are several reasons for this, namely their energy efficiency, durability and the better quality of light they produce.
Street lights come in several different shapes and styles depending on the area in which it is installed. Generally speaking, these lights produce an intense beam designed to illuminate a wide area from high above. Typically these are mounted on a pole, or in certain instances on the sides of vertical surfaces such as dividing walls and barriers on highways and busier roadways.
All lighting fixtures used for this application come with an IEC ingress protection (IP) rating that protects the light against dust and water entering the housing. In order to stand up to heat, snow and other extreme weather conditions, they also feature aluminum casings with durable impact resistant lenses covering the LED modules within. There are various types of mounting options available depending on the location in which it is installed, ensuring that there is a light for your application.
Retrofitting existing street lighting fixtures is a popular option for those who are looking to keep the aesthetics of their existing fixtures while taking advantage of modern LED technology. It's also a solid choice for those who are looking to save money over replacing the entire fixture and have the ability and technical knowledge to wire the retrofit into place. Our retrofit kits come in a variety of different shapes and sizes to accommodate different fixtures and lumen outputs.
Using 3D rendering lighting design software, our lighting experts are able to provide our customers with technical street lighting photometric layouts to ensure the highest quality of illumination for their project. In this example, we used 10 150W cobrahead street lights at a busy Michigan roadway intersection.