From the times of Edison’s genius, the greatest challenge is to make your home’s lighting practical, affordable, efficient, and for home illumination. The inventor promised: “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” Now, with LEDs, the future has arrived.
However, global lighting energy use still amounts to around $230 billion annually. This is a big chunk of every family or office budget. Switching to energy-efficient LED lighting is the single greatest way to reduce lighting energy use, cut your energy bills and greenhouse emissions.
Currently, the only barrier to replacing traditional lights is the initial cost of an LED bulb, which is a slightly more expensive option than the standard incandescent bulb. But, while LED light bulbs cost an arm and a leg just a few years ago (more than $100 for one bulb), you can now buy a 60-watt LED equivalent bulb for less than $5.
Not only are these new lighting options affordable, but compared to traditional lighting, LED stands out with myriads of benefits:
- operate at very low voltage and much lower temperature;
- zero-maintenance and easy installation;
- they can last years (even decades);
- offer better light quality and visibility;
- tremendous design flexibility;
- smart connectivity features;
All while saving energy and preserving the environment. And that’s not all!
What are the benefits of LED lights compared to traditional lighting sources? In this article, we will take you through the main reasons you should consider a lighting upgrade if you are a homeowner or property manager.
1) LED Lighting Offers Outstanding Cost-Saving Potential
The number one benefit of LEDs is that they are the most energy-efficient lighting source compared to the other alternatives: incandescent, fluorescent, or other lights. Once you switch to LED lighting, expect to save from 60% to 90% less energy than traditional lighting sources.
The secret behind their efficiency is in the minimum power, less heat emittance, direct light up and many more. So, if you want a fixture with bright, cost-cutting options, here’s why to consider LED lighting:
LEDs generate light at very small voltage, have virtually no-warm up time, and rely on the electrical current to light up only. Just the opposite, primitive incandescent bulbs convert more than 90% of the into heat, emitting 10% light. That is wasted power and money thrown down the drain.
Unlike CFL or Incandescent light bulbs scattering light in all directions, LEDs emit light in a specific order (for 180 degrees by default). That makes every bit of light useful. Not surprisingly, directional light emissions turn LEDs into a versatile source. They are ideal for task lighting, downlights, spotlights, or illuminating every display at your home or office.
In terms of efficiency, LEDs leave behind their competitors because, with a given number of watts, they emit 5 to 10 times brighter light than any other lighting source. Though, to compare brightness, forget about watts. Instead, find the “lumens” printed on the bulb label you are looking for and choose the bulb with the lowest energy consumption. The general rule is the bigger the lumen output, the brightest bulb. The less wattage, the more economical bulbs. LED lights provide additional cost-saving options with dimmable controls. If you can dim a LED bulb, this gives you a chance to set the mood with lighting controls from 100% to as low as 0.5%. Even better, you can conserve energy and prolong LEDs life, saving on maintenance and installation costs. All of these advantages are absent from traditional lighting sources. Even if the incandescent light bulbs are dimmer-friendly, you expose the bulb to the risk of burnout if the voltage is too high. Feel desperate? Don’t bother doing the math,
To calculate how much energy you save every hour a light bulb in your house is switched off, use the watt rating printed on it. Although the specific savings achieved vary by project, you can expect percentage savings in the following ranges when older lighting systems are upgraded to LED:
2) LED Bulbs Offer Huge Longevity
What makes LED technology so promising is the reduced power consumption and their superior life span. LEDs offer a much longer service life than any light source available on the market. You probably heard the manufacturers’ promise that an LED bulb could work continuously for over 10 years (or even more). And that’s true. This means they can pay off within 3-6 months, and you will save money as you use them more.
The reason behind their resistance to vibrations, temperature extremes, drops, and shocks stands behind their sturdiness and durability.
- While LEDs are made from tiny microchips protected by epoxy resin, the older incandescent components are made from tiny metal filaments exposed to more stress.
- LEDs rely on efficiently designed drivers (power supply), significantly reducing the internal ambient temperature.
For comparison, incandescent lamps have the worst lifespan of any bulb on the market. This means that you have to replace a hundred of them to reach the lifetime of a single LED. Shortly, the result is high maintenance costs.
3) LEDs Offer Zero-Maintenance
The stats show you will have to replace an LED bulb much less than an old-fashioned lamp. In addition, homeowners save money, hassle, and time on zero maintenance in terms of labour and lower replacement parts costs (since the bulbs do not fail as often). That’s because LEDs don’t “burn out” or fail unexpectedly. Instead, they just lose their brightness with time. The good news is that you will never worry that the lamp will stop emitting light suddenly. It will give you an early indication of the end of its useful life. So, when the light output of a bulb decreases by 30%, it’s time to install a new one.
Dimmed LED bulbs and new smart features enable additional energy-saving benefits while reducing the flow of electricity to the bulb, increasing its “useful” life, and evoking feelings, visual harmony and cosiness.
4) LEDs are Easy to Install
Previously, the number one LED lighting challenge was the installation process. It is connected with the need for a certified handyman to do the wiring. Luckily, installing LED lights is easy, fast, and possible almost everywhere.
Don’t worry about fitting them into the traditional light bulb sockets. They are compatible with primary voltage systems, so you don’t need a transformer to work correctly. Plus, unlike conventional lighting solutions, which are so hot, with LED lights, you don’t risk your home or office with overly hot bulbs. This makes LEDs much far safer to install and use. Not surprisingly, this comfort allows most property owners to undertake the installation process themselves.
5) LEDs Focus on
If you can’t tell the difference between the white and gray coloured objects in the evening, the main culprit could be your current light bulbs. The truth is that not all are designed equal. LEDs render colour better than their old predecessors, measured by the Colour Rendering Index (CRI). On a scale of 0 to 100, the metric tells how accurately colours look under artificial light sources compared to natural light.
The general rule is: the higher the CRI, the better. Regarding CRI as opposed to the traditional lighting solutions, which have poor CRI ratings. As CRI is usually printed on bulb labels, it’s always worth asking an experienced electrician or store representative for help if you don’t know the CRI of the preferred model.
6) LED lighting is the most environmentally-friendly choice
Because LEDs are efficient and long-lasting, producing the same amount of light as old luminaries, they help the environment. So, if you switched to LED lighting, you are already contributing to the planet’s ecological footprint. But, new lighting sources are not only good for the environment, but they are safer to be disposed of, as they are non-toxic and can be recycled. In fact, more than 95% of LED-based bulbs are recyclable. Usually, they contain, so they are treated as standard electronic equipment. Even if there’s no particular program to recycle LEDs, PCBs, diodes, semiconductors, etc., they are treated as standard electronic equipment. And if the life of your LED bulb is diminishing, consider not throwing it together with the household wastes but in:
- Local recycling centre
- DIY/ hardware stores and large retail distributors.
Each CFLs contain around 4 milligrams of the dangerous toxin mercury, an alarming signal for recycling. The problem comes when a CFL bulb breaks and reaches landfills. Even if these are minuscule amounts of toxic elements, when they leak out can harm the environment.
6) You Can Brighten Up Your Home With Smart LED Lighting
Everyone’s forgotten to turn off the light while rushing to leave home and go to work. Since the times of the old incandescent bulbs, there has been a huge step in technological advancement in the lighting industry. For those of you who forget the basics, know that without smart LEDs, you are missing comfort. The best smart lighting options conserve energy, last much longer than traditional light bulbs and offer customisation options that are both fun and practical. For comparison, with an ENERGY STAR®️–certified smart bulb, you can save up to 90 percent less energy than the traditional luminaires. Smart lighting is excellent for the various options you have at your disposal:
- You can light up our homes today with a tap on a smartphone, laptop, tablet or your voice and a wireless connection so that you can manage your home lighting anytime, anywhere. Yet, you don’t even need a router. That’s because standard LED light bulbs enable an alternative Li-fi data transmission method that boosts the speed of up to 224 Gb per second.
- With smart sensors and automated control, you can set light to automatically change tone, brightness and even turn into a dreamland with 16 million colour options in a single LED bulb.
- Smart light bulbs are already dimmable without installing additional dimmer switches.
- With smart lighting management systems, you have real-time diagnostics, reducing maintenance costs and consumption, meaning lighting becomes more efficient.
- Some smart light bulb speakers can actually sync to music, flashing or dimming in time with the beat, to turn any room into a mini dance party.
- You can also improve sleep quality with controllable colour temperatures. Try blocking blue wavelengths with smart-colour light bulbs to reduce your exposure to blue light at night –– look to warm colours, like orange, instead.
Final Thoughts
As the world of technology grows and changes, the way we use lights to illuminate our homes and offices is also changing. This is because more and more people are using newer technologies like LEDs to light their homes. However, the many benefits of using led lights over traditional lighting, including energy efficiency and durability, make them such a great choice.
