Australia could save $8 billion every year by changing more light globes

Since the early 2000s Australia has managed to replace about half of our traditional incandescent light globes – ‘tubes and bulbs’ – with LED lights.

If we managed to swap out the remaining 50% though, Harry Verhaar, Head of Public and Government Affairs at Signify, Australia’s largest lighting company, estimates we could save “about 8 billion Australian dollars every year” in electricity costs, and nearly 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

“This is the equivalent of flying 76 million passengers from Melbourne to Sydney.”

Verhaar told the SwitchedOn podcast that LEDs are one of the easiest, ready-to-implement technologies that can help transition to a low carbon economy.

Since the early 2000s LEDs have been promoted as a way to reduce electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In Australia various rebate programs and incentives have been used by state governments to encourage their use.

But even though LED lighting has become widespread across Australia, Australia still has some way to go before all our lighting is swapped to LED.

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More lights but less energy

Lighting currently accounts for about 5-6% of global carbon emissions, which is more than the commercial aviation industry at around 2-3%.  

Twenty years ago though lighting accounted for nearly 20% of global electricity consumption.

So even though the world has more people today, living in bigger urban populations, and more electric lights are being used than ever before, the proportion of global electricity consumption from lighting is falling each year.

That drop is a result of having swapped incandescent lights for LED lighting. LEDs can achieve efficiencies of 80-90% whereas incandescent bulbs are only about 5-10% efficient. That’s because they can convert a higher percentage of the electricity they use into visible light, while incandescent bulbs waste a significant amount of energy as heat.

Furthermore, a typical LED bulb lasts about 25,000 to 50,000 hours, or more, whereas an incandescent bulb typically lasts around 1,000 hours.

In 2009 Europe implemented minimum energy efficiency standards for lighting. “That actually led to the phase out of incandescent light bulbs.”

And since August this year, fluorescent tubes are no longer allowed in Europe.

One of the biggest impacts of LEDs is on public and street lighting. A city can reduce their electricity bill by 40 to 50% by replacing public lighting with LEDs.

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The World Council on City Data, headquartered in Toronto, looked at 10 cities to determine what savings could be made by using LED lighting in public spaces. Los Angeles managed to save 50% on their lighting costs, and Buenes Aires saved two thirds of their electricity bill.

“They also found that night-time traffic accidents were reduced by 30%, and street crimes, assaults and burglary were reduced by 21%,” says Verhaar. “With LED lighting, you have better visibility. … you see faces and objects better.”

“You could say people are less naughty and they make less mistakes, so less crime, fewer traffic accidents.”

A feature of LED lighting is that “every light point ultimately gets an IP address, like any computer, or any smartphone has a connection to the to the internet.”

“If all light points have an IP address, let's say for all the buildings if you're a company, or all the street lighting in a city, then you can combine all those little bits into a bigger project.”

Connecting all the light points in a city, or a building, creates a digital platform that enables city’s or building owners to determine how much power is being consumed. It also creates a larger asset that banks can finance.

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Efficient lighting can help electrify heating and transport faster

Verhaar argues that the electricity saved on lighting can “free up electricity that can help add and accelerate electrification of heating and transport.”

He estimates Australia could power 3.8 million heat pumps, 4.4 million electric vehicles, or 5.2 million electric cooking units each year with the electricity saved from more efficient lightin.

Like other efficient electric appliances, LEDs are more expensive to purchase, although the up-front cost has come down significantly in the last decade.

“It's really important to distinguish between price and costs, and then look over time that you use a certain solution,” says Verhaar. “When you use more efficient solutions, they're always cheaper over its lifetime.”

Verhaar estimates Australian households with 10 incandescent halogen lamps at home will spend over $200 per year on lighting electricity costs.

“If you replace those with the most efficient LEDs that are now available, it will drop to a little over $10, that's 20 times lower …. within half a year, you have your money back.”

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You can hear the full interview with Harry Verhaar on the SwitchedOn podcast here.