People worry about the running cost of adding wall lights and they've got the wrong number in their head, one from the halogen era. A modern LED wall light costs almost nothing to run. Here's the actual maths so you can stop worrying about it.
A typical LED wall light draws about as much power as a phone charger. Left on four hours a night, most cost a few dollars a year to run.
The maths, with real numbers
Battii sconces use LED modules in the range of about 5 to 10 watts. Take a 7W fitting, on for four hours a night: that's 28 watt-hours a day, roughly 10 kilowatt-hours across a whole year. Australian electricity runs somewhere around 30 to 40 cents per kilowatt-hour depending on your state and retailer, so that light costs you in the order of three to four dollars a year. A pair is still under ten. The exact figure moves with your tariff, but the order of magnitude doesn't, it's cents, not dollars.
Why it's so much less than it used to be
An old halogen sconce might have pulled 50 watts for the same light a 7W LED gives now. That's roughly seven times the power for the same brightness. If your mental benchmark is halogen or incandescent, everything about LED running cost feels too good to be true, it isn't, the technology genuinely uses a fraction of the power.
Lifespan is the bigger saving
The running cost is almost a rounding error next to the replacement cost you avoid. LED modules in this range are rated around 40,000 to 50,000 hours. At four hours a night that's decades before it dims, so for most people the light outlasts the decor. You're not buying globes every year, and for integrated LED fittings there's usually nothing to replace at all.
What actually affects your bill
Three things, none of them scary. Wattage (higher output uses more, but decorative sconces are low to begin with), hours (a dimmer cuts both brightness and draw, see how to dim wall lights), and whether the fitting takes a replaceable globe or an integrated module, which changes what you check before buying, covered in which bulb does your light take.
Put simply: run the wall lights. The cost of leaving them on is not the reason to hesitate. Browse the range, every product page lists the wattage.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run an LED wall light?
Around three to four dollars a year for a single 7W fitting left on four hours a night, based on Australian rates of roughly 30 to 40 cents per kilowatt-hour. Your exact tariff shifts the figure, but it stays in cents-to-a-few-dollars territory.
Are LED wall lights energy efficient?
Very. A 7W LED gives light that used to take about 50W of halogen, roughly seven times less power for the same brightness.
How long do LED wall lights last?
LED modules are typically rated 40,000 to 50,000 hours. At a few hours a night that's decades, so the fitting usually outlasts the room's decor.
Do LED lights use less power than halogen?
Yes, dramatically, in the order of seven times less for the same light output, which is why running costs dropped so sharply when LED replaced halogen.
