There are many reasons to start moving to low energy light bulbs, not the least being that you can save a great deal of money, you can genuinely help fight against global warming, and at the end of the day you don't have a choice since legislation to ban incandescent bulbs is beginning to really take effect.
So what's on offer in the low energy lighting stall? Well when it comes down to it, there's CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and LED's (Light Emitting Diodes) and that pretty much covers it.
Of the two, CFL's have been fairly widely available for longer but are only about 4 times more efficient than incandescent and have a lot of serious issues relating to health, aesthetics, usability and the environment.
In contrast, LED's for general domestic use have only appeared quite recently yet in terms of efficiency they are already 10 times better and still improving at an astonishing rate; they also present no particular concerns either.
So if LED's are way better than either incandescent light bulbs or CFL's then why aren't more people installing them? There are several reasons but we'll look at just the main two.
The first of which is that most folk have a perception that LED's are for toys and decorative lights, not serious domestic lighting. This is mainly because viable LED alternatives to mainstream light bulbs haven't been around long and are still not so easy to find.
The second reason that LED technology is still proving slow to take off is centred on the fact that most folk really don't comprehend the economics of electric lighting. It's simply in our nature to assign importance to headline information and avoid figuring out the (usually more complex) full picture.
So we open the electricity bill and grumble then in the DIY or lighting store wince at the price of LED light bulbs. And in so doing completely the miss the point. A significant portion of most electricity bills is accounted for by lighting, and the cost of lighting has little to do with the cost of light bulbs - it's almost entirely the running cost.
Those "cheap" incandescent light bulbs convert less than 10% of the electricity into light; the rest of the electricity (and the money you paid for it) is wasted as heat. Compare that to an "expensive" LED light bulb that converts over 90% of the electricity into light.
It's possible to break even on the initial investment in high priced LED light bulbs in little more than a year and since they outlast conventional light bulbs by a factor of 25:1 (50,000+ hours versus 2,000 hours) you can also factor in reduced replacement costs too. Maybe these expensive LED's are actually cheaper when you work it all out.
What then should you look out for when purchasing energy saving light bulbs? Top of the list has to be quality - there are loads of cheap LED light bulbs out there and they're frankly a waste of money.
In general you can spot a high quality LED bulb by the fact that it will state what sort of incandescent light bulb it aims to replace; so if you want to replace a 35 watt, 50 degree beam, warm white halogen lamp then check that the LED you're considering is a good match for all 3 features (luminosity, light spread and color).
The second thing to understand is that LED light is highly directional and so they are naturally excellent as spot lights. There are general purpose all round LED bulbs available but they're nowhere as pervasive as spot lights. The most popular application for LED low energy lighting at present is replacing MR16 spotlights, especially halogens.
Note that although MR16 is a specification for the size and construction of spot light reflectors (the bit you see and that shines) it has become almost synonymous with 12 volt low voltage systems that use the GU5.3 two pin base; it also in fact covers mains voltage lamps that use instead the GU10 twist/lock system. But whichever you choose to consider, both 12v LED and GU10 LED light bulbs provide an ideal entry point to the world of ultra low energy lighting.
So what's on offer in the low energy lighting stall? Well when it comes down to it, there's CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and LED's (Light Emitting Diodes) and that pretty much covers it.
Of the two, CFL's have been fairly widely available for longer but are only about 4 times more efficient than incandescent and have a lot of serious issues relating to health, aesthetics, usability and the environment.
In contrast, LED's for general domestic use have only appeared quite recently yet in terms of efficiency they are already 10 times better and still improving at an astonishing rate; they also present no particular concerns either.
So if LED's are way better than either incandescent light bulbs or CFL's then why aren't more people installing them? There are several reasons but we'll look at just the main two.
The first of which is that most folk have a perception that LED's are for toys and decorative lights, not serious domestic lighting. This is mainly because viable LED alternatives to mainstream light bulbs haven't been around long and are still not so easy to find.
The second reason that LED technology is still proving slow to take off is centred on the fact that most folk really don't comprehend the economics of electric lighting. It's simply in our nature to assign importance to headline information and avoid figuring out the (usually more complex) full picture.
So we open the electricity bill and grumble then in the DIY or lighting store wince at the price of LED light bulbs. And in so doing completely the miss the point. A significant portion of most electricity bills is accounted for by lighting, and the cost of lighting has little to do with the cost of light bulbs - it's almost entirely the running cost.
Those "cheap" incandescent light bulbs convert less than 10% of the electricity into light; the rest of the electricity (and the money you paid for it) is wasted as heat. Compare that to an "expensive" LED light bulb that converts over 90% of the electricity into light.
It's possible to break even on the initial investment in high priced LED light bulbs in little more than a year and since they outlast conventional light bulbs by a factor of 25:1 (50,000+ hours versus 2,000 hours) you can also factor in reduced replacement costs too. Maybe these expensive LED's are actually cheaper when you work it all out.
What then should you look out for when purchasing energy saving light bulbs? Top of the list has to be quality - there are loads of cheap LED light bulbs out there and they're frankly a waste of money.
In general you can spot a high quality LED bulb by the fact that it will state what sort of incandescent light bulb it aims to replace; so if you want to replace a 35 watt, 50 degree beam, warm white halogen lamp then check that the LED you're considering is a good match for all 3 features (luminosity, light spread and color).
The second thing to understand is that LED light is highly directional and so they are naturally excellent as spot lights. There are general purpose all round LED bulbs available but they're nowhere as pervasive as spot lights. The most popular application for LED low energy lighting at present is replacing MR16 spotlights, especially halogens.
Note that although MR16 is a specification for the size and construction of spot light reflectors (the bit you see and that shines) it has become almost synonymous with 12 volt low voltage systems that use the GU5.3 two pin base; it also in fact covers mains voltage lamps that use instead the GU10 twist/lock system. But whichever you choose to consider, both 12v LED and GU10 LED light bulbs provide an ideal entry point to the world of ultra low energy lighting.
About the Author:
If you found this article interesting then Briony Kennicot also recommends energy saving lighting and GU10 LED bulbs in particular.
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