How energy-saving is LED lights?

If we want to know how energy-saving LED lights is, we need to understand the structure and working principle of LED lights. The important part of the LED lights is the semiconductor wafer, which is solid in nature. We called the semiconductor as Light Emitting Diode, abbreviation for LED. One side of the semiconductor wafer is negative electrode, and the other side is positive electrode. When electricity is passed through the semiconductor material, the wafer will begin to release energy in the form of visible light.

When compared with fluorescent lamps and incandescent light, LED lights have a very distinct advantage in energy-saving. Fluorescent lamps emit light by phosphorous powder, but 30% of the energy is consumed in the form of heat. While the incandescent lights emit light when electricity is passed through the filament, it uses a lot of energy to produce light, but 90% of the energy is wasted as heat. The LED lights typically use about 25%-80% less energy than traditional incandescent, saving more energy and the money.

LEDs emit light in a specific direction according to different need, which will reduce the need for reflectors and diffusers that can trap light. Different fixtures are equipped to prevent the light from reflecting into undesired directions and most of the light can be fully used. The features make the LED lights more efficient for many work lights and street lights. LED lights are available in the wide range of colors and light levels you've come to expect, you can decide the color of LED lights by controlling the size of the current, such as the red, green and blue, and the white light is typically used by a mix of red, green and blue LEDs.

As is all know, the lifespan of LED lights are more than 60000 hours, while incandescent lights last for 800 to 1500 hours, and fluorescent lights last up to 10000 hours. In addition to, the traditional fluorescent lights and incandescent lights are made of glass, which are easily broken and lower lifespan need for frequent replacement. According to a research, if 250000 street lights are replaced by LED lights in a city, the lighting switch will save $70000 and nearly 248000 kilowatt-hours a year in energy, and the replacement project is expected to save $14 million a year in energy and maintenance costs. From these data we can see, LED lights are extremely energy efficient and save a lot of economic cost. What’s more, LED lights are a great lighting option for those wishing to pay less initially for their needs, providing great performance, environmental protection, lower heat dissipation and the other features.

With the rapidly increasing need of LED market and advanced LED technology, LED lights are applied widely for commercial and industrial lighting, and it also has the potential to fundamentally change the future of lighting around the world. More and more customers and dealers are shifting toward LED lighting because of the lower power consumption and high light output, but the important reason is the energy-saving, which will help people save a lot of money in energy paying. At the same time, I hope that more and more people will replace traditional lights with LED lights, reducing the burden of energy.

What are the differences between LED lights, incandescent lights and fluorescent lamps?

For decades, we have used incandescent lights to light up hallways, bedrooms and the other places. But incandescent lights have some problems. They are inefficient, wasting lots of energy. Recently, as more fluorescent lamps are used in working and public environments, they have been consistently proven to be economical. Unfortunately, fluorescent lamps contain toxic mercury that makes them difficult to be disposed of and harmful to the environments. In order to solve these problems, technicians designed a new type of lights, light-emitting diodes (LED). They have too many advantages so that many home owners and parents will consider LED lighting over fluorescent lamps and incandescent lights.

So what are the differences between LED lights, incandescent lights and fluorescent lamps? Let’s take a look to see the advantages and disadvantages about three of them.

Energy consumption

A 60-watt incandescent light bulb draws more than $300 worth of electricity per year and provides about 800 lumens of light; an equivalent fluorescent lamp uses less than 15 watts and costs only about $75 of electricity per year. LED lights are even better, drawing less than 8 watts of power, costing about $30 per year, and lasting 50,000 hours or longer.

Longer lifespan

While incandescent lights have an average lifespan of 800 to 1500 running hours, and fluorescent lamps have an average lifespan of 10000 running hours, LED lights can have an average of lifespan of 60000 running hours. This can provide substantial saving as a result of fewer replacements needing to be bought.

Product price

It is true that LED lights are more expensive initially than fluorescent lamps and incandescent lights. Incandescent lights sell in packages for only a few bucks, and fluorescent lamps will be a little more expensive than it, but LED lights sold for more than $70. This high cost barrier has become the difficulty of LED lights to replace all the other lights.

Color temperature

Incandescent lights put off typical yellowish lighting and there are lots of limitations in selecting other different lighting color. While some fluorescent tubes now use a different type of phosphorous powder to produce a warmer color, most fluorescents produce only cold blue lighting or white lighting. In order to be applied in different environment or lighting situation, LED lights can be built to light up in a variety of colors and they don’t need filters like other bulbs.

Incandescent bulb

Incandescent lights

  

Fluorescent lamps

LED lighting

Environmental impact

LED lights are environmentally friendly over fluorescent lamps and incandescent lights. According to a research, an average household using 30 incandescent bulbs for a year will create 4500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. In comparison, if the same household used LED lights, it would contribute just 450 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Fluorescent lamps must contain a small amount of mercury which is extremely hazardous to both humans and the environment. LED lights are completely safe and do not contain such poisonous materials, putting home owners and parents at ease.

Durable features

Incandescent lights and fluorescent lamps are made of delicate glass cases and thin filaments that may break due to contact or power surges. LED lights housing is made of aluminum alloy or the other metal and plastic material, they are far less fragile than both fluorescent and incandescent lights. This makes them less likely to being inoperable due to being dropped or bashed accidentally.

     

Heat dissipation

While fluorescent lamps emit less heat than incandescent lights, they still produce much more than LEDs. LED lights are vulnerable to high temperatures. If LED circuitry gets too hot, more current will pass through the LED chip, which will cause the LED light burn-out.

Startup performance

Standard incandescent lights operate when an electric current pass through the filament, which need some time to produces heat, and the heat produces light. Fluorescent lamps also need some time to flicker before staying on, and they don’t provide enough illumination until they have been running for a few minutes. LED lights light up as soon as an electrical current is passed through them and provide instant light and instant full illumination.