How Much Does It Cost to Run a Smart LED Bulb in Delaware? (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 $0.002 per hour, or about $0.26 per month at 5 hours a day in Delaware. Cheap to run
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low 5 W | $0.001 | $0.005 | $0.14 | $1.76 |
| Typical 9 W | $0.002 | $0.009 | $0.26 | $3.17 |
| High 14 W | $0.003 | $0.014 | $0.41 | $4.93 |
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 Delaware, with electricity at 19.3¢ per kWh (source: EIA Table 5.6.A, 2026-06), a typical smart led bulb costs $0.002 per hour and about $3.17 per year at 5 hours a day. That is about 5% more than the national average for the US ($0.25 per month), because electricity in Delaware costs 19.3¢ per kWh against 18.3¢ nationally. Each $1.00 of electricity buys roughly 576.0 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 ($0.84) 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