(Australia-NewsWire.Com, May 12, 2014 ) Brisbane, Queensland -- Is it true that LED lights are more energy efficient than other types of lights on the market?
Do LED lights really save you money? Or is this just all sales hype to make you change your light bulbs and buy something else. Well the answers below may astound you.
So which light bulbs are the safest to use and better for our environment? 3 common bulbs for sale are:
• INCANDESCENT • FLUORESCENT • LED
Some light measuring terminologies you may have heard but not understood are these:
• Wattage: The amount of electricity consumed by a light source • Lumens: The amount of light that a light source produces • Efficacy: Lumens per watt
To save money and find the most energy efficient bulb the consumer needs to understand what they are purchasing and why.
First is the Incandescent bulb. These produce light when an electric current passes through a filament and causes it to glow. These are one of the more energy hungry bulbs on the market. They use more energy to run but can be useful in areas that demand high levels of brightness.
As of Jan. 1, 2011 in the US all incandescent light bulbs had to meet more stringent lumens/watt standards. What they are saying is that the bulbs must produce the same amount of lumens (Light output) for less wattage (Energy).
Efficacy is measured in lumens per watt and lumens are the amount of light output of a light source, so efficacy will measure the amount of light that is produced for each Watt of power that is being used by the light.
This is an important indicator, the higher the Efficacy number means more light is being produced for the same amount of power.
The Efficacy of the incandescent bulb sits around 14, which is very low, meaning that only a small amount of power goes toward generating light and the rest is used for heat. This is not energy efficient!
Next is fluorescent lighting, fluorescent bulbs will produce light when an electric arc passes between cathodes to excite mercury (YES MERCURY) and other gases producing radiant energy. This is then converted to a visible light by a phosphor coating.
The fluorescent bulb consumes about 1/5 to 1/3 as much electricity as an incandescent bulb and has a comparable lumen rating. These bulbs can last up to 20 times longer than the incandescent bulbs.
Fluorescent bulbs also have a much higher efficacy rating of around 40 and this makes them preferable to the "Green" advocates due to the energy savings.
However, they do contain mercury and this can be extremely dangerous if one of these is broken in your home. There are steps to take if you do break one of these bulbs to protect yourself from the mercury they contain.
This also means there would be longer term environmental issues in land fill after the bulbs are disposed of. There may be dollar savings being energy efficient but is it worth the health risk long term?
Last is the LED (Light Emitting Diodes) form of lighting. This is when voltage is applied to negatively charged semiconductors, causing electrons to combine and create a unit of light (photon). To make it more understandable an LED is a chemical chip embedded in a plastic capsule.
LED lighting is considered more efficient and a lot longer lasting than any other form of lighting available at the moment. LED has an efficacy rating of about 60 but some of the new versions have rated as high as 80.
LED is a more expensive form of lighting to buy, however due to the energy efficiency, longer term they work out much more cost effective.
Researching what is available now on the market in LED shows a growing range of options. Companies are now taking advantage of this new technology when selecting products to sell in the market place.
Browsing Amazon.com the range seems to be growing every month, from companies like Certain Way who sell a small dual head LED light for reading, up to much larger forms of LED lights.
Choose wisely next time you're out shopping and take into consideration the information above when selecting.
About Certain Way
Certain Way strives to maintain 100% customer satisfaction at all times, delivering quality products, old fashioned service, fast delivery and amazing after sales follow up. Certain Way ( www.certainway.org) believes in creating a shopping experience for its customers that is not only safe but enjoyable at all times. Any issues and feedback are always taken very seriously and followed through for the best possible outcome for its customers.