LED Light Bulbs - The New Choice in Efficient Lighting
by GreenBusinessOwner.com
Outside our home and offices we have three motion sensor light fixtures
which cover our parking area. Although we have converted nearly every other light in both home and offices to energy-saving CFL lamps, they have not been a viable option for these outdoor fixtures for two reasons. First, blowing snow conditions and a rambunctious Australian Shepherd named Jersey conspire to make these lights activate and then
turn off dozens of times a day during the dark winter months. Rapid cycling like this can be a death sentence for a compact fluorescent. Second, our ambient temperature in Alaska is far below the recommended operating range of any commercially available CFL. We still use CFL lamps outdoors, but only in fixtures that are not needed in path lighting situations where "instant on" performance is needed and not in motion sensor light fixtures.
The Light Emitting
Diode Solution
LED outdoor lamps are remarkably more efficient than either standard incandescent light bulbs or CFLs that are "instant on," and are unaffected by either rapid on/off cycling or low temperature.
When it comes to efficiency, LED bulbs excel as well (note that I
resisted the temptation to say that LEDs "really shine"). An LED loses
almost no efficiency in the form of heat, since each tiny "bulb"
component is actually a semiconductor diode which creates an
electroluminescence when voltage is applied. Each of the 60 LED outdoor
flood lamps that we chose consume only 5 watts when on. They replaced
65 watt bulbs. That is a savings of 120 watts per fixture. Given our
obscenely high local energy costs, I expect the bulbs to pay for
themselves in less than two years.
Performance of the lights is not quite the same as the old fashioned
incandescent bulbs they replaced. Light output is slightly less intense
as compared to the 65 watt bulbs and perform more like wide spotlights
rather than true floodlights. Still, they are meeting our outdoor
lighting requirements and at a small fraction of the energy costs.
|
|
We have also installed LED task lights in a couple of areas in the
house and have been very pleased with the performance of these units as
well.
Although LED bulbs suitable for standard light fixture applications are
just showing up on store shelves, the expense and relatively poor light
performance of these bulbs make them impractical for most residential
and office applications so far. Expect performance to improve and costs
to plummet in the coming months.
Soon the truly responsible lighting choice will migrate from CFLs to
LEDs, making a significant decrease in the energy consumption of the
average home.
|
