Buying a new machine is not like buying a pack of sugar. It quickly involves amounts ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In addition to the purchase price, it is also important to consider the annual costs. For example, how often does the machine need to be serviced? What is the consumption? And what are the depreciation costs?

So many things that affect the final cost of purchasing and operating a vehicle.Strangely enough, work lights are almost never considered during the purchase of a new machine. Often, without thinking about it, the lights that are already standard on the machine are chosen. Or the customer asks, when the price for the machine has already been determined, "Oh, just put a few more work lights on it." In that case, it is obvious that there will not be proper work lights on the machine.

Funny really, because by choosing the right lights, you not only work much more pleasantly and safely in the dark, but you also save a lot of costs in the long run.

LED: a lifetime of light

Work lights naturally come in all shapes and sizes, from large to small, with a high or low purchase price and in all kinds of shapes. But the most important feature to classify work lights is the type of light.

These are halogen, HID (xenon) and LED. You can read more about the differences between these types of work lights here.

An important difference between these types of lamps is the lifespan. This is around 500 hours for halogen lamps, 5,000 hours for HID lamps and no less than 50,000 hours for LED.

Comparison lifetime of different light sources

So to get to the lifespan of an LED worklight with halogen bulbs, you would need a hundred(!) bulbs. In order to replace such a bulb, the vehicle has to stand still every time, thus further adding to the replacement cost.

LED work lights often last even longer than the life of the machine they are mounted on. At least, if they are good work lights. Read why we are so enthusiastic about Nordic Lights LED work lights here.

Low purchase price = high consumption

In addition to service life, it is important to consider the consumption of work lights. Over the lifetime of a vehicle, energy-efficient work lights can save many gallons of fuel.

Comparing energy consumption of different light sources

A halogen bulb consumes almost as much energy as four comparable LED work lights. Count your winnings!

How much can you save with LED?

What is the concrete benefit of replacing halogen work lights with LED work lights? In the example below, we compare Nordic Lights halogen work lights with Nordic Lights LED work lights.

We assume in the example that the machine is used 250 days per year, of which on average two hours per day with the lights on.

Furthermore, we assume that the lamps must be replaced at the same time and that the vehicle must be stationary for one hour once to do so.

We replaced the halogen lamps at the rear with 2 x KL2001 and at the front with 2 x KL1401.

The work lamps we use in the example are lamps that provide an optimal light display on the machine. This means that this set of lamps is not the cheapest or most energy efficient solution, but it is the best for the machine.

KL2001
 

Work light suitable as an upgrade for halogen lighting.
 

LEES MEER

Halogen	Total cost per year	LED
€ 142,-	Purchase costs	€ 335,-
420 watt	Energy consumption	120 watt
500 uur	Lifespan	50.000 uur
€ 15,-	Replacement costs bulbs	€ 0,-
€ 75,-	Replacement cost hours	€ 0,-

LED work lights pay for themselves after only two years

After replacing halogen bulbs twice, LED work lights are already more economical. What's more, the comparison does not take into account a saving of over 70% in energy consumption. As a result, LED work lights pay for themselves even sooner.

Comparison of halogen and LED lighting costs

The calculation above shows that replacing halogen bulbs with Nordic Lights LED work lights pays off €527 after eight years.

But imagine you have multiple vehicles. So what will an upgrade to Nordic Lights LED work lights yield at the end of the vehicle's life?

 

Halogen	Total cost per year	LED
€ 142,-	Purchase costs	€ 335,-
420 watt	Energy consumption	120 watt
500 uur	Lifespan	50.000 uur
€ 15,-	Replacement costs bulbs	€ 0,-
€ 75,-	Replacement cost hours	€ 0,-

 

Curious about the benefits of LED work lights for a specific vehicle? Then contact us with our product specialist for more information and tailored advice.