As the incandescent bulbs burn out in your home or office, take a look at LED lighting before buying new light bulbs. Not only are they better for the environment, but they are better for your pocketbook too with a 20-year lifespan on the average.
LED lighting has made great advances the past few years and can offer the same warm lighting which an incandescent bulb has.
There is a huge variety of LED bulbs out there. You need to make sure you’re getting the right one for your needs and use.
Watts Up With LED Lighting?
Well, lumen is the form of measurement used for LED lighting. Just as wattage is thought to be the measurement for standard light bulb brightness, lumen is the measurement for LED. What you may not realize, though, the brightness of a standard light bulb isn’t by the wattage. It measures of the energy used by the light bulb.
To get the same brightness out of LED bulb you get from a standard 60W bulb, you’ll only use eight to twelve watts. What this means is your standard old light bulb is using as much as 5 times the wattage which an LED bulb does!
But you won’t be able to figure out a watt per watt measurement to compare these two different creatures. This is because LED bulbs are measured by lumen. So when you check out which bulbs to buy your new LED lighting, the lm (lumen) is how to measure the brightness you’ll get.
What Color Of LED Do You Need?
The standard incandescent style bulbs provide a yellowish hue. The bulbs for LEDs come in an assortment of colors from purple to red to various whites and various yellows. Soft white or warm white are the most popular colors in LEDs for the home. The LED bulbs that are labeled as bright white will give you more of a daylight brightness.
The LED Bulb Will Cost More
Just like the hybrid vehicles, the LED lighting will cost more upfront, but in the long run, they will save you money. Consider it an investment where you’ll get your money back over a long period. The more standard lighting and bulbs you replace with LED, the more money you will have saved.
Dimmer Switch May Not Be LED Friendly
If you have a dimmer switch in any room, the LED bulbs may not be compatible because of the circuitry. You may need to have a qualified electrician change out the switch. When you use an LED bulb in a dimmer light, you’ll hear a buzz or hum and they may flicker. There are LED bulbs which are compatible with dimmer switches, but they can be pricey.
LED Lighting Is Not For Every Light Fixture
The bulbs for LED lighting run cooler than the standard incandescent bulbs, but they do put out heat. In the base of LED bulbs, there is a heat sink which pulls away the heat. It then stays cool because which is dissipated into the air, all of which makes for a long lifespan for LED bulbs.
And this is where the problem may be. Since the LED bulb needs to dissipate heat which it generates, when they are installed into an enclosed fixture, they heat can’t dissipate. Therefore, the lifespan is shortened. There are LED bulbs for non-LED lighting fixtures. Be sure to read the packaging so that you purchase the correct LED bulb.
