Are LED systems costly?

Not when you consider the total system cost, including maintenance and power use.

Initial fixture costs may be higher for some LED lighting solutions than comparable incandescent and fluorescent lighting sources. But this initial cost does not take into account the total cost of owning, operating, and maintaining an LED lighting system. Long useful life reduces maintenance and material costs. For example, relamping in  a hard-to-reach place, such as the top of a tall building, can be very expensive. Also, advanced LED controls, such as Color Kinetics ActiveSite, far surpass the traditional maintenance and monitoring controls of traditional luminaires, boosting cost savings over the lifetime of the system. And because LEDs consume far less energy, annual power costs can be reduced by up to 80%. The bottom line? Over time, the total cost of LED lighting systems is significantly lower than conventional systems, with payback often realized in less than three years.