Why should you switch to LED Lights? Are you looking for ways to save on your monthly electricity bill? While a single light by itself might not use a lot of energy, collectively they quickly add up. In some homes, lighting accounts for as much as 15% of the energy used. Shrinking that could save you money every month, and LED lights last longer than other lighting technologies.
Considering that homes might still be using incandescent or CFL, let’s look at the benefits of switching to LED lights from both of these options.
Incandescent to LED lights
While much effort was put into migrating from incandescent bulbs to CFL options, there are still incandescent lights in some houses and businesses. When compared to these bulbs, LEDs use 90% less energy, while lasting up to 25 times longer.
LEDs come in a variety of colours, so if you like the yellowish light of incandecents, you should opt for soft white or warm white bulbs.
CFL to LED
When CFL bulbs were introduced, a big part of their selling point was that they were 25 to 35% more efficient than incandescent bulbs and their longevity. However, LED lights are 90% more efficient, which means LEDs will still drop your energy usage by 75% if you switch from CFL to LED.
CFL bulbs tend to last for 8,000 hours, a great improvement over the 1,200 hours that incandescent bulbs offer. However, LED sits comfortably above them at 25,000 or more hours of life. On top of that, CFL bulbs contain small quantities of mercury, which is hazardous if the bulb breaks, and has to be disposed of safely.
Why so different?
When looking at the numbers, it is almost impossible to believe that LEDs are just so much better than other bulbs. The reason for this is in how they generate light. For incandescent and CFL bulbs, light is generated by running current through a resistive filament. This filament requires a lot of energy to pass though, which generates heat. In these bulbs, the light is more of a byproduct than the heat is, with 80 toi 90% of the energy being released as heat.
When it comes to LEDs, electricity is provided straight to a semiconductor that converts the electricity into light. This light is also directional, so you don’t have wasted energy trying to light the inside of the bulb or the ceiling. LEDs avoid the need to generate heat to create light, meaning they can run so much more efficiently to provide the same level of light. Pretty great, right?
LED lights save on energy costs, don’t generate heat and contain no hazardous materials. Oh, and did we mention they come in a wide variety of colours and styles to create amazing lighting in your home or office?
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