Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
LEDs, or light emitting diodes, are semiconductors that convert electricity to light. Most people are familiar with them as colored indicator lights on electronic equipment and more recently in flashlights, nightlights, pathway lights and holiday string lights.
For most residential uses, LEDs aren’t quite ready for prime time. There’s little to choose from yet and what’s out there is expensive and may not be Underwriters Laboratories (UL)-listed. Right now, you’re most likely to find residential LED lights in under-cabinet strip lights and desk lamps. But the market is evolving rapidly so look for more products soon.
Top Tips
Try them for the holidays. Replace your holiday tree, window, and yard string lights with LEDs. (Throw away your old holiday lights so other people won’t use these energy-wasters.) LED bulbs are cool to the touch, so there’s no fire hazard and no burned fingers. And they use a fraction of the energy of the incandescent mini-lights or the larger C-7 lights. According to the U.S. Energy Star program, the electricity used by just one 7-watt C-7 bulb could power 140 LEDs. That’s enough to light up two 24-foot strings!”
Benefits…
…to you
Advantages include long life, full dimming ability, and no mercury content. Most LEDs on the market today are good at providing directional light, but not up to the task of general lighting. Most current products provide a cool blue-white light, not warm white.
…to your wallet
Don’t expect big savings from today’s products for task or ambient lighting-they’re pricey and there are limited products to choose from. While the best quality products are similar to fluorescents in terms of energy efficiency, some are no more efficient than incandescents. The Energy Star label doesn’t yet cover these kinds of lights.
Common Mistakes
Believing exaggerated claims about long life. They do last a long time, but claims of 50,000 to 100,000 hours are likely overstated. In fact, there’s really no standard information about length of life. Newer, improved LEDs have the potential to provide good light output for as many as 25,000 hours, according to the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an internationally renowned center for lighting research. That compares to 6,000 to 10,000 hours for a CFL and 750 hours for an incandescent bulb. Unlike fluorescents and incandescents, they don’t burn out, they just slowly reduce their light output over time.
Getting Started
Try switching your holiday string lights to LEDs, and keep a lookout for other energy-saving products in the future.
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:55 pm
this article is a bit outdated, but is correct in that LED technology is rapidly changing.
to correctly educate yourself about this technology, it’s availability, and other resources, please visit the DOE (department of energy) website and research LED and SS (solid state) lighting. there is an amazing amount of energy that can be saved with LED lighting, and the DOE is behind the current transformation to this technology. Residential applications do make economic sense when homeowners no longer have to either hire contractors to replace bulbs, or the homeowner must risk
injury from falling from tall ladders or stepladders to change conventional lightbulbs or fixtures over many years, broken glass,and disposal costs (for CFL’s), not to mention up to 80% energy savings and 15-20 year bulbs (no,they are not over rated claims, LED’s can last over 25 years with new technology).
Commercially, LED retrofits offer flicker-free beautiful color light, replacement availability for almost any bulb, Tax deductions (up to .60/sq.ft), little or no maintenance (no glass breakage, inconsequential heat and no replacing bulbs or ballasts), Bulb rebates and special electric rates in some states (PECO in Pa. has an
aggressive program), and some companies (we) offer a shared savings program that requires NO out of pocket costs and almost immediate savings in lighting consumption of elecricityof 50-80%. Pair an LED powered lighting system with a Solar PV system, and you’ve designed the lowest load for lighting with the opportunity for Solar tax credits and Grants,etc., and you can even become an energy producer, selling excess power back to the Utility. Looking for one of the hottest growing industries for employment? Look to LED lighting companies, it’s one of the fastest growing industries in the USA, and possibly the planet.
And expect Energy Star ratings for LED bulbs in August of this year!
for more information, see me @ LEDSavingSolutions.com and contact me at dwhite@ledsavingsolutions.com or mrgreengeenes@gmail.com. thanks!
douglas white, d.l.white and associates Sierra Club Green Home Provider
in Philadelphia, Pa.
November 19th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
[...] without gazing at colorful, bright lights on the tree and outside the house, consider buying LED lights. LED lights consume less energy watts per string than regular lights. Admittedly more expensive to [...]
January 30th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
[...] bulbs (CFLs), which contain a measure of toxic mercury, and expensive, not-quite-bright-enough light-emitting diodes (LEDs). SWITCH Lighting’s new LED bulbs, however, draw a line in the sand from any other bulb [...]