The Top 5 Benefits of LED lighting

LED light bulbs are highly energy efficient, last longer, are more durable, and offer comparable or better light quality than other types of lighting.

Every home and business is looking for energy efficiency. So what’s one of the easiest ways to do this? Switch from filament light bulbs or fluorescent tubes to LED lighting.

For years, LEDs were a high cost lighting alternative but in the past few years the price of LED lights has dropped significantly, the colours have been modified, and they are more flexible than ever.

LED (light emitting diode) lighting is very different from other lighting sources such as incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes with the key differences being:

• Light Source: LEDs are the size of a fleck of pepper, and a mix of red, green, and blue LEDs is typically used to make white light.
• Direction: LEDs emit light in a specific direction, reducing the need for reflectors and diffusers that can trap light. This feature makes LEDs more efficient for many uses such as recessed downlights and task lighting. With other types of lighting, the light must be reflected to the desired direction and more than half of the light may never leave the fixture.
• Heat: LEDs emit very little heat. In comparison, incandescent bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat and CFLs release about 80% of their energy as heat.

There is an impressive array of benefits associated with LED lights, but in this article we will just look at the top 5.

#1: Energy Saving

LEDs use less electricity compared to traditional lighting and conventional light bulbs with an estimated energy efficiency of 80%-90%. This means that about 80% of the electrical energy is converted to light, while only 20% is lost and converted into heat.

For example, a 10watt LED bulb is equivalent to a 60watt regular bulb. The electricity cost of a normal 60watt lamp used 3 hours a day is £9.00 year. Changing to an LED bulb with the same light output will cost only £1.50 per year – a great saving.

Did you know that a normal incandescent light bulb is actually a heater with the by-product of light? Over 90% of its energy is turned into heat making it an outrageously inefficient, not to mention hot, light source.

#2 Long Lifetime

LED bulbs have outstanding operational lifetimes of up to 11 years of continuous operation, or 22 years at 50% operation. If you leave a LED fixture on for 8 hours per day it would take around 20 years before you’d have to replace the LED bulb.

So there are considerable savings for business here in not having to pay someone to replace light bulbs at frequent intervals.

#3: Eco-friendly

LED lights contain no toxic materials and are 100% recyclable so they’ll help you reduce your carbon footprint. One LED light bulb can save material and production of 25 incandescent light bulbs.

LEDs have another eco-advantage over fluorescents in that fluorescent lighting contain mercury. In addition, fluorescents are prone to breaking, so when a bulb breaks, that neurotoxic element can taint your home or office.

#4: Durability

Because LEDs are made with epoxy lenses (not glass) and are hollow inside, they are far less fragile than both fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. This makes them much more durable with a great ability to withstand harsh conditions, shocks, vibration, and rough handling. These properties make LED lighting the natural choice for:

·     outdoor lighting systems with exposure to weather, wind, rain.

·     freezer rooms and iceboxes and for

·     festive / Christmas light strings

#5: No Heat

That’s right; no heat. Unlike incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, LEDs are easy to the touch even after they are on for hours so they carry less risk of causing an accidental fire or burn.

All in all we believe LED lighting is a great choice for your home, office or business.

At M&C Electrical we stock a tremendous rage of LED lighting systems and bulbs. We’ve got LED lighting for every room, for outside and for festive lighting.

So please, drop in and see us. We’d be pleased to work out the best option for you.