How Much Power (Watts) Does a Night Light Use?

Each of us uses some kind of night light in our home. The main purpose of the night light is to provide soft, dim lighting of the room. Most night lights are turned on for almost 12 hours each day so it is normal to ask ourselves how much power they consume and how it will affect our electricity bill?

There are a lot of types of nightlights that are available on the market, and most of them have different power, which often depends on the bulb type and design. Generally, the power that these night lights use is pretty low, but if you want to know precisely how much watts they actually consume, you’re in the right place. So, let’s start.

How Much Power (Watts) Does Night Light Use?

So How Much Power (Watts) Does Night Light Use? A typical neon or incandescent night light uses about 1.5 to 7.5 watts, while the LED and electroluminescent night lights consume approximately 0.5 watts per hour. If you have 3 night lights in your home, and they run for 12 hours per day, it will cost you $0.7 per month.

There are many varieties of night lights that differ in design and functionality. Some of them are incandescent, neon, electroluminescent, and LED (light-emitting diode) night lights. With the right choice, they can not only bring practical benefits but also be beneficial to decorate any interior. Every night light comes with some sort of label where it says how much watts it actually consumes.

Below we’ll be going to provide you with some quality information on how much watts they consume and how to reduce their power consumption even more. By understanding these basic things, you’ll be able to save money and have a lower electricity bill.

Night Light Type:	Power [W]	Cost per month [$]
1. Neon Night Light	0.5 to 1 Watts	$0.05
2. LED Night Light	0.5 Watts	$0.02
3. Incandescent Night Light	1.5 to 7.5 Watts	$0.07 – $0.36
4. Electroluminescent Night Light	0.2 to 0.5 Watts	$0.01 – $0.02

How To Reduce Power Consumption With Night Lights?

The best way to reduce power consumption with night lights is to choose LED or Electroluminescent models. A typical LED night light consumes approximately 0.5 watts of energy. This is 3 to 5 times less energy than neon and incandescent night light. That’s why LED night lights are extremely energy efficient and are a great choice for your home.

These LED nightlights can run for 24 hours a day and they’ll not make any difference to your electric bill. More and more houses are using this type of lighting in their home during the night. Also, I personally have used both neon night lights and LED night lights, and I can tell you that the difference is really huge.

Night Light Power Consumption Calculator

If we want to measure how much energy (watts) will our night light consume, we can do this by using a simple formula. Every night light has a wattage label, which determines the power of the device. If we take the wattage and multiply it by the hours on how long it will be turned on, we can get the total power consumption (P) for that period of time.

The last thing is to multiple the total power consumption (P) with the average electricity price in your country and we’ll get how much it will cost us.

We’ll do an example. I have a night light that runs at 1.5 watts. I put it in the socket to run 12h per day for 30 days. The average price of electricity in the US is 13 cents per kWh. The first thing we need to do is to turn 1.5 W to kWh. We’ll do that by dividing it by 1000.

Parameters:

• Night light: 0.0015 [kW]
• Per Day: 12 hours
• Days: 30 days
• Price of electricity: 13 [cents/kWh]

Procedure:

• P = W x H x D x = 0.0015 x 12 x 30= 0.54 [kW]
• Electric Bill: P x 0.13 = 0.07 cents

When we sum all this up, we’ll get that our power consumption will be 0.54 kW if we run this night light for 30 days. It will raise our electricity bill by only 7 cents, which is negligible. Most of the night lights are automatic and have sensors on it, so when the spotlight, they turn off.

Here you have the free Power Consumption Calculator, that you can use.

How to Actually Measure Power Consumption of Night Light?

The way I measure how much power some electric device consumes in my house is by using a Kill A Watt Meter. With this device, you can precisely measure anything in your house such as a PC, microwave, fridge, etc. Just plug it in your socket and connect the device via it. All the energy that passes through the Watt Meter will be measured and displayed, which gives a very precise power consumption.

You can find Kill A Watt Meter at a very affordable price here on Amazon. This device will serve you with any gadget, and you will have a better insight into your power consumption and you will be able to reduce your electricity bills.

For those who want to know How Much Power (Watts) Does a Printer Use, read my article.

How Much Electricity Is Used For Night Lights?

Less than 1% of total electricity consumption is used by night lights. Average households use about 2 to 3 night lights in their home. These lights usually run for 12 hours each day and use 0.4% of total electricity for lighting in the house. If you are using 7.5-watt night light for 12 hours per day it is around 2% of the total electricity for light.

Types of Nightlight and Their Energy Consumption

1. Incandescent Night light Bulbs

Incandescent bulbs are the most common type of bulbs that you will find in some homes. Incandescent night lights typically consume between 1.5 to 7.5 watts of energy which depends on their size and they have a long lifespan. However, most of the incandescent nightlight bulbs consume around 4 watts of energy per hour.

2. LED (Light-Emitting Diode) Night light Bulbs

The LED night lights are the most popular night lights that are used in modern homes. These lights come in a big variety of colors and have a very long lifespan which is quite a big advantage that we all want. There are a lot of different types of LED nightlights on the market, and they also come with replacement bulbs. I also use this type of light in my house and I have to say I am very satisfied.

A typical LED night light consumes approximately 0.5 watts of energy. That’s why these types of night lights are used most often. By using LED night light you can save power and don’t need to worry about your energy bill. The annual cost for running a LED light is around 20 cents.

3. Neon Night light Bulbs

Neon night lights are not commonly used lights in homes, but they certainly are a great source of light and they don’t consume a lot of electricity (watts). These types of bulbs give a glow that is similar to orange and have the ability to change the color by using a filter that goes over them.

Neon night lights consume between 0.5 and 1 watts of energy, which depends on their size and model. These night light are made of very thin glass capsules.

4. Electroluminescent Night light

The electroluminescent night lights are considered the most modern night lights that are available on the market today. This type doesn’t use a bulb, so you won’t need to worry about replacing the spent bulb. So by using this type of night light, you won’t need to worry about a lifespan.

Electroluminescent night lights typically consume around 0.2 to 0.5 watts of energy, which makes them extremely energy efficient. The great thing about these night lights is that they come in a variety of colors and you can touch them. If you have kids, then this is a great choice for you because you will not need to worry about the heat that is coming off of the light.

Final Thoughts

If you have read this article you could see that night lights don’t consume much power and that they will not affect your energy bill at all. The average power consumption of night lights is between 0.5 watts up to 7.5 watts, depending on the model and type. These devices are designed to help you to provide soft, dim lighting of the room so it is good to have them. I hope that I have helped you get a better understanding of these lights and their power consumption.

Also, take a look on this topic if you are interested, How Much Power (Watts) Does a Mouse Use?