L.E.D. (Light Emitting Diode, aka "LED"), lighting has been around for years. I first saw this type of lighting as brake lights on tractor trailers and in EXIT lighting systems. Today, they are cropping up everywhere. They are available at hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowes.
Question is: "Is it the right time for me to change out my lighting from Incandescent and/or Fluorescent lighting to LED?"
Let's look at the old Pros n' Cons:
LED "Pros"
1. Energy Saving. The estimated energy savings of an LED over an incandescent bulb is 75% or more.
2. Long Life: The typical service life of an LED bulb is up to 100,000 service hours.
3. Color Choices: You have over 16.7 million choices of colors for LEDs. This will dramatically change lighting design for commercial and residential properties in the coming years. Consumers have a limited amount of choices right now as programs and controllers are rolling out in the near future where you can control the lighting over your PC and smartphone.
4. No UV/Little infrared emissions: This is important as some lighting can damage fabric, bleach out paint, and produce heat that could damage artwork.
5. "Dimmable" This is a KEY advantage over fluorescent lighting. It is expensive and often troublesome to add dimming controls to fluorescent lighting. LED lighting is the easiest type of lighting to control.
6. Lights Instantly/No noise: Fluorescent lighting have ballasts which will "hum" as they operate...Especially when they age.
7. Rugged and Friendlier to the environment. LED lighting has no easy to damage filament or sensitive composites lining the glass, (like harmful mercury in fluorescent lighting).
8. Better aesthetics than fluorescent lighting. LED lighting just looks better in some applications than that "corkscrew" design of the fluorescent light bulbs.
LED "Cons"
1. Expensive. Remember when fluorescent lighting was expensive? Well, LED lighting is pretty expensive right now. However, in time, more suppliers means more product and cheaper pricing.
2. Limited Choices. At the moment, your choices are limited. Again, this will improve in time.
3. Limited Voltage. At the moment, 10 watt lighting for retail purchase is the limit, (w to a 40 watt incandescent light). This may change as technology is always improving products.
4. Potential Damage to Your Eye: LEDs put out a low, yet intense light. It is not recommended that you stare at LED lights for a long period of time. Check to make sure there are filters on your LED lighting to prevent potential damage to the eye.
SUMMARY: LED lighting is available now in stores. It's still expensive. However, if you carefully consider your application, you might be "led" to LED.
Question is: "Is it the right time for me to change out my lighting from Incandescent and/or Fluorescent lighting to LED?"
Let's look at the old Pros n' Cons:
LED "Pros"
1. Energy Saving. The estimated energy savings of an LED over an incandescent bulb is 75% or more.
2. Long Life: The typical service life of an LED bulb is up to 100,000 service hours.
3. Color Choices: You have over 16.7 million choices of colors for LEDs. This will dramatically change lighting design for commercial and residential properties in the coming years. Consumers have a limited amount of choices right now as programs and controllers are rolling out in the near future where you can control the lighting over your PC and smartphone.
4. No UV/Little infrared emissions: This is important as some lighting can damage fabric, bleach out paint, and produce heat that could damage artwork.
5. "Dimmable" This is a KEY advantage over fluorescent lighting. It is expensive and often troublesome to add dimming controls to fluorescent lighting. LED lighting is the easiest type of lighting to control.
6. Lights Instantly/No noise: Fluorescent lighting have ballasts which will "hum" as they operate...Especially when they age.
7. Rugged and Friendlier to the environment. LED lighting has no easy to damage filament or sensitive composites lining the glass, (like harmful mercury in fluorescent lighting).
8. Better aesthetics than fluorescent lighting. LED lighting just looks better in some applications than that "corkscrew" design of the fluorescent light bulbs.
LED "Cons"
1. Expensive. Remember when fluorescent lighting was expensive? Well, LED lighting is pretty expensive right now. However, in time, more suppliers means more product and cheaper pricing.
2. Limited Choices. At the moment, your choices are limited. Again, this will improve in time.
3. Limited Voltage. At the moment, 10 watt lighting for retail purchase is the limit, (w to a 40 watt incandescent light). This may change as technology is always improving products.
4. Potential Damage to Your Eye: LEDs put out a low, yet intense light. It is not recommended that you stare at LED lights for a long period of time. Check to make sure there are filters on your LED lighting to prevent potential damage to the eye.
SUMMARY: LED lighting is available now in stores. It's still expensive. However, if you carefully consider your application, you might be "led" to LED.
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