This article aims to clear up some of the confusion that surrounds the various low energy domestic lighting solutions currently available to consumers, looks at what you need to know about low energy lighting and installing low energy light bulbs and provides a simple guide and helpful LED lighting advice for anyone unfamiliar with evaluating and buying LED home lighting.
If you just want to jump in and start installing LED lights though then follow these links to check out some of the best LED spot lights and standard globe shaped LED light bulbsavailable these days.
Some Background About Domestic Lighting Solutions
The lighting systems we are most familiar with in a domestic setting are based on GLS (General Lighting Service ) light bulbs – these are incandescent filaments that burn (quite literally) and in so doing convert their input energy into about 98% heat (as you would expect for something that is burning) with the remainder given off as incidental light.
GLS bulbs have a typical lifespan of about 1000 hours, at which point, having converted your these-days-not-very-cheap electricity into vastly more heat than light, they need to be replaced. Put another way, if you started out in life with a single GLS light bulb that you used for just 4 hours per evening, you would need to re-purchase well over 100 replacements during the course of your life.
At approximately $1 per light bulb say, that’s $100. And if you think that’s a high price to pay for having a little light in your life, the cost of running your GLS bulb far exceeds the replacement costs at somewhere above $1000 in electricity bills.
So… regular GLS incandescent light bulbs are economically a poor choice for you directly. But they are also a very bad way to light the world in general.
Not only are you (and everyone else) generating a huge amount of waste heat (remember: 2% illumination, 98% heat radiation), there is also the energy and heat required by the lighting manufacturers to make all those replacement light bulbs (we’ll ignore the disposal issue, but that’s yet another concern).
Needless to say, governments around the world are alarmed by this and many governments in the developed world (where frankly the problem is worst) have already enacted legislation to phase out the production and use of standard incandescent lamps, with timescales as short as 2 to 3 years.
Yes, you read that correctly – very soon you will not be able to buy GLS light bulbs anymore so it’s time to start getting energy savvy.
So What About Low Energy Light Bulbs?
What indeed about conventional low energy (for which read CFL or Compact Fluorescent Lamp) light bulbs? There are quite a number of problems with CFLs compared to GLS and LED light bulbs, follow the link for further details, but the short answer is that they are bad news on all fronts.
Total cost of ownership of CFLs is poor (the full purchase and running costs taken together); light quality is horrid; they are bulky, ungainly and downright ugly; most are not dimmable; energy efficiency is not all that great; and the cherry on top – CFLs contain toxic mercury vapor and are therefore hazardous waste.
No wonder even the lighting industry itself is keen to get beyond CFLs and into a lighting technology that really can deliver safe, high-quality light that is low-cost, low-energy, low-heat, low-carbon footprint, ultra long life-span.
The lighting industry is at the sharp end of the reality behind global warming and the relentless energy crisis that will accompany oil depletion, and the solution that lighting industry giants such as Philips have put their investment behind is the ultimate in energy saving lighting – LED home lighting.
How And Where To Use LED Lighting Around Your Own Home
The first thing to understand about LED lamps is that the light they emit is directional – focused on a single spot. So they are an excellent choice for any existing lighting applications that have similar characteristics. We’re talking here about:
- spot lights
- accent lighting
- sconce lighting
- tracks and clusters
- recessed down lights
- security lighting
- courtesy lights
- walk-in closets
- desk lamps
- decorative & feature lighting
Most people’s homes use this type of lighting in kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and basements. Anywhere really that needs bright ambient light.
A safe choice at the moment to replace halogen spotlights are GU10 LED bulbs such as this ledgrossiste 6W GU10 LED.
Less obvious uses of halogen lighting are desk lamps and slim cabinet lights, both of which use G4 halogen capsules. These fiendishly hot little lamps are easily and very cost effectively replaced with G4 LED capsules that simply push into the existing fitting.
Domestic LED lighting is also particularly effective in situations that have no natural light at all and can therefore use only artificial light, since LED lights have a light quality that is unique and in many ways more versatile than traditional lighting. Just think of some of the really great basement ideas you could create for example using a mixture of colored LED mood lights and cool LED spots.
In fact, when planning any new DIY projects, consider how and where you might incorporate LED lighting to add a new dimension, as well as saving you real money long term and helping the environment. Basements, workshops, garages and the like also often have T8 fluorescent tubes fitted and these are prime candidates to replace with LED T8 tubes that cost far less to run, don’t need replacing anywhere near so often, don’t suffer from headache inducing flicker and give off almost no heat so putting less strain on your air conditioning.
LED lights also work brilliantly in strips, so replacing T5 fluorescent tubes under kitchen units and lighting inside cupboards are both ideal applications, not least because LED kitchen lighting gives off almost no heat, plus their super-bright light is required in a relatively small area rather than spread widely. For the same reason, if you’re looking for walk in closet ideas then simple domestic LED lighting is a great solution.
What they are less good at (at the moment) is all round illumination of the sort you get from say a table lamp with a lamp shade. Though even now there are LED candle and LED GLS replacement globe bulbs available that will outperform general domestic incandescent lighting.
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