The Benefits of LED Lighting
Few features in a home are as important as lighting. From keeping areas well-lit for the purpose of safety to helping create the desired mood in a room, these are decisions that should be made with care.
Of course, homeowners today have more options than ever before when it comes to lighting. For many years, the incandescent light bulb was ubiquitous in every home and business. While this type of bulb was certainly revolutionary when it entered the scene many decades ago, today it is considered an extremely outdated form of technology.
Halogen bulbs are slightly better, but still seem obsolete when compared to the most up-to-date lighting technology available: LED.
What is LED Lighting?
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are among the most energy efficient and longest lasting sources of light on the market today. This technology was first patented in 1962, however, the first LEDs produced only infrared lighting and were not practical for home use. It took many years for the technology to develop to allow LEDs to produce a white light suitable for lamps and other lighting fixtures.
While other light bulbs make use of a filament, which burns out relatively quickly, LEDs are lit by electrons moving through a junction of two semiconductors. As a result of its differing mechanism of light production, LED bulbs remain relatively cool, even after extended periods of use. This is in contrast to other types of bulbs which become hot to the touch after even a short period of being left on.
While LEDs are one of several types of bulbs that can be found on the market today, they feature certain benefits that other bulbs do not have.
Here are the top benefits of choosing LED lighting for your home.
Benefit #1: Safety
Needless to say, keeping your home safe and free of fire hazards should always be a top priority and this is one of the clear advantages of purchasing LED lighting. Other light bulbs utilize only about 10% of the power they receive to turn into light; the remaining 90% is wasted as heat energy. This means that these bulbs become extremely hot.
Since LED don’t burn nearly as hot as other types of bulbs they are much less likely to start a fire in your home. LEDs also do not contain toxic chemicals; modern Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) contain a small amount of mercury, which is toxic to people and pets.
Benefit #2: Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is another feature that sets LED lighting apart from other types of lights. As mentioned, most light bulbs waste up to 90% of the energy that is used to power them; they are neither environmentally friendly, nor cheap to use.
LED, on the other hand, are anywhere from 60-75% more efficient than other light sources. The energy efficiency of a light source is measured in what is known as luminous efficacy, the ability to use a given amount of power to emit visible light. Compared to other lighting technologies, such as CFL, incandescent lights and high-pressure sodium lights (HPS), LED always wins when it comes to luminous efficacy.
Benefit #3: Longer Lasting Lights
This one is a huge advantage, especially for cost-savvy consumers. The projected lifespan for an incandescent bulb is around 1,200 hours. CFLs fare a lot better; they can burn for up to 10,000 hours. An LED bulb, on the other hand, can burn for up to 25,000 hours, which means they rarely need to be replaced.
While LED bulbs are a bit more expensive than other bulbs (although this cost has come down considerably in recent years), making use of them can save you hundreds, or even thousands of dollars over the years.
Benefit #4: Versatility
The device that actually produces the light in LED lighting is physically very small. Since it doesn’t take up much space, LED bulbs can be made significantly smaller than other types of bulbs. For a homeowner, this translates to an amazing amount of versatility when it comes to lighting your home.
While they can be made to be very big as well—LEDs are used to light stadiums—the real advantage is you can use them for nearly anything.
Small LED lights make amazing accent lighting; place them in drawers to make things easier to find or underneath cabinets to highlight favorite pieces of artwork or collectible items. LED lights can also be used to create task lighting, spotlighting a specific area of the home like the kitchen counter, or just as a general source of light in your family room.
Benefit #5: The Colors
When shopping for lighting, you also need to take another factor into account: the color rendering index, or CRI. This is a measurement of a light source’s ability to reveal the actual color of objects.
Perhaps you have noticed that at night, even in a well-lit home, things tend to lose their color. This is because the bulbs being used have a poor CRI. If this is an issue in your home, adding in LED bulbs may be the solution as the CRI value can go up to 95, which is considered very high. That means, even at night, you’ll be able to enjoy the full color of your home.
Installing LED Lighting
LED lights have many benefits over traditional bulbs, but the transition is understandably challenging. You may be wondering if you will really notice the benefits and if the up-front cost is worth the long-term gains. At Entek, we have seen the benefits firsthand and can tell you that most homeowners see a return on this investment within 2-4 years and notice many benefits immediately.
If you are interested in retrofitting your space with LED lighting, reach out to learn more about the process and receive an estimate for your lighting upgrade today.