How Much Does It Cost to Run a Smart LED Bulb in Nova Scotia? (2026)
Smart bulbs draw the same as ordinary LEDs when lit, plus about half a watt around the clock to stay connected. Across a house full of them, that standby draw can exceed the lighting itself.
A typical smart LED bulb (9 W) costs C$0.002 per hour, or about C$0.28 per month at 5 hours a day in Nova Scotia. Cheap to run
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low 5 W | C$0.001 | C$0.005 | C$0.15 | C$1.87 |
| Typical 9 W | C$0.002 | C$0.009 | C$0.28 | C$3.36 |
| High 14 W | C$0.003 | C$0.014 | C$0.43 | C$5.23 |
Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 5 h/day ≈ 16 kWh per year.
One day of a smart LED bulb (0.22 kWh) is the same electricity as
- 2.2kettle boils
- 4.3hours of a fridge
- 14phone charges
- 24hours of an LED bulb
In Nova Scotia, with electricity at 20.5¢ per kWh (source: Hydro-Québec 2025 comparison, 2025-04), a typical smart led bulb costs C$0.002 per hour and about C$3.36 per year at 5 hours a day. That is about 46% more than the national average for Canada (C$0.19 per month), because electricity in Nova Scotia costs 20.5¢ per kWh against 14.0¢ nationally. Each C$1.00 of electricity buys roughly 542.5 hours of use.
How to lower the cost of running a smart LED bulb
- Group bulbs on smart switches instead of individual smart bulbs where a whole room switches together.
- Use schedules and dimming. A bulb at 50 percent brightness uses roughly half the power.
- Count your bulbs. Thirty smart bulbs at 0.5 watts standby is 130 kWh a year.
In standby it draws about 0.5 W, which adds roughly 4 kWh (C$0.90) per year if it is never unplugged.
Frequently asked questions
Do smart bulbs use electricity when off?
Yes, about 0.3 to 0.5 watts each, roughly 3 to 4 kWh per bulb per year.
Are smart bulbs more expensive to run than normal LEDs?
Slightly, because of standby draw. Dimming and scheduling can more than offset it.
Do color-changing bulbs use more power?
Bright white uses the most. Saturated colours often draw less because fewer LEDs are lit.
Cost by region
US states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Canadian provinces
Related appliances
- LED Grow Light150 W typical
- Holiday String Lights20 W typical
- Outdoor Security Floodlight30 W typical
- LED Light Bulb9 W typical
Use the generic electricity cost calculator · Which uses more? Take the quiz