Save the planet while lowering your electricity bill by switching out your trusty incandescent bulbs for their LED counterparts. While LED bulbs are significantly more expensive than a normal bulb, they tend to last longer, burn out less frequently, and use up less electricity to do their job.
But what exactly is an LED bulb?
Since being patented by Thomas Edison in 1879, the lightbulb has gone through minimal changes throughout the years. Traditionally, lightbulbs worked by conducting electrical current passes through a thin metal filament wire, heating it to a high temperature until it glowed and lit up. The hot filament was protected from oxidation by a glass or fused quartz bulb that was filled with inert gas or a vacuum. These lightbulbs produced both heat and light, and became the gold standard for lighting fixtures until CFLs came into the scene.
CFLs or Compact Fluorescent Lights worked differently to incandescent bulbs. Instead of running an electric current through a wire filament, they drive an electric current through a tube that contains argon and mercury vapor. This process creates ultraviolet light that quickly translates into visible light, unlike incandescent lights which put off a warm glow. CFLs use up to 70% less energy and last years longer than incandescent bulbs. However, they do take a few minutes to warm up and reach full brightness, making them ill-suited to areas where you'd want lots of light instantly, like dark, steep basements or stairways. They also cannot be used with a dimmer switch, limiting the number of fixtures they're compatible with. CFPs also contain a small amount of mercury, which is harmful to the environment and your health, require special clean-up instructions in case of a break and shouldn’t be disposed of in your regular household trash.
LEDs, on the other hand, are the safest, most resilient option in the market. Unlike 'regular' light bulbs, LED or light emitting diode bulbs are technically not bulbs. They’re tiny semiconductors aka diodes wrapped in plastic to protect the elements and focus the light, resulting in brighter, more long-lasting and energy-efficient sources of light. For years, they were found only in small electronic displays, like clocks or decorative items. Because the light emitted by each tiny LED is directional and fairly weak, household LED bulbs were on the fringe of mainstream technology just a few years ago. These days, LED technology has improved significantly, with products lasting as long as 50,000 hours. That's roughly 50 times the life of a typical incandescent bulb and 5 times the lifetime of an average compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). If you ran a LED for 6 hours per day every day, it would last for nearly 23 years! They also use remarkably less energy than incandescent bulbs, with energy savings of up to 75%.
Many people baulk at the idea of switching out all their bulbs for a pricier option, without realising the huge savings they'll be reaping in the long run. According to a chart published by
Viribright, when you factor in both the cost of the bulbs and the cost of electricity, LEDs emerge the clear winner. While incandescents cost roughly $211 over 20 years, CFLs cost $54, and LEDs rack up a mere $34.
It's never too late to get ahead of the curve and save major corporate and personal dollars by making a simple switch. Give these local experts a call today to get your place outfitted instantly!