LED light bulbs have improved in efficiency and colour quality and skyrocketed in U.S. sales, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports, with several manufacturers now offering ENERGY STAR®-qualified bulbs that exceed 100 lumens per watt.
Traditional incandescent bulbs delivered 13 to 18 lumens per watt.
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U.S. LED sales quintupled between 2011 and 2013, from nine to 45 million bulbs—but still have staggering room to grow, with only 2.3% of the general service lighting market covered.
“When first introduced, LED bulbs were far more expensive than other bulbs, but their costs have since come down dramatically,” the EIA notes. Today, “they are often the most expensive bulbs on the shelf, but their much longer lifetimes and lower power draw can economically justify the higher initial cost.”
