The Reality Of Low Energy Light Bulbs

There are quite a few reasons why you might think about switching to low energy lighting, the main ones being: saving significant money; helping combat global warming; and because you don't actually have much choice in the matter thanks to global legislation to ban the incandescent light bulb.

So what choices are on offer in the world of domestic low energy lighting? In truth there are only two realistic technologies available: CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and LED's (Light Emitting Diodes).

Out of these two, CFL's have been available for much longer yet in terms of efficiency they are only about 4 times better than incandescents plus they have a long list of murky issues with regards to aesthetics, health and safety, usability and environmental concerns.

In contrast, LED's for general domestic use have only appeared quite recently yet in terms of efficiency they are already 10 times better and still improving at an astonishing rate; they also present no particular concerns either.

The obvious question here is: if LED's are so far ahead of both incandescent and CFL light bulbs then why don't more people install them? There are a number of reasons but let's look at the two principal ones.

The first main reason is the lingering perception that LED's are for Christmas lights and such like rather than mainstream lighting. This image persists because genuine LED replacements for domestic light bulbs have not been in existence all that long and can still be quite elusive to track down.

The second main reason why adoption of LED technology has yet to take hold is that few people really understand the economics of lighting. It's human nature to focus on that which is in front of us at the expense of working out what's really going on.

Hence we moan when confronted with the electricity bill yet also moan when we see the price sticker for LED light bulbs at the local store and totally fail to spot the underlying relationship. The cost of electric lighting is a major factor in most electricity bills and it's not the cost of the light bulbs that's the culprit; rather it's the cost of running them.

Those "inexpensive" regular light bulbs convert less than one tenth of the electricity supplied to them (and paid for by you) into light - all the rest is lost as heat. Now let's look at those rather pricey LED bulbs again - the convert over nine tenths of electricity into light and waste very little as heat.

It's possible to break even on the initial investment in high priced LED light bulbs in little more than a year and since they outlast conventional light bulbs by a factor of 25:1 (50,000+ hours versus 2,000 hours) you can also factor in reduced replacement costs too. Maybe these expensive LED's are actually cheaper when you work it all out.

What features should you consider when looking for low energy light bulbs? Quality, quality and quality would be a good guide; avoid the many cheap LED's available and you'll also avoid disappointment.

In general you can spot a high quality LED bulb by the fact that it will state what sort of incandescent light bulb it aims to replace; so if you want to replace a 35 watt, 50 degree beam, warm white halogen lamp then check that the LED you're considering is a good match for all 3 features (luminosity, light spread and color).

The second most important thing to take on board is that the light from an LED is by nature extremely directional and therefore highly suitable for spot lighting. Which is not to say that there aren't good all round light LED's available, just that spot light applications are where LED's have a natural advantage and have accordingly become highly popular with folk wanting to replace hot and inefficient MR15 format halogen spot lamps.

As a side note, the term MR16 has become closely associated with low voltage (12v) lighting but it actually describes both the GU5.3 base format with two pins used for 12v systems and the GU10 twist n' lock format used for main voltage lighting. In either case though, both 12v MR16 and its GU10 mains variant are an excellent way to get started right this minute with genuine energy saving lighting.

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