LED Light: Basic Facts for First-Time Buyers

28.03.2011 | Author: Kemal Ertas | Posted in Consumer Electronics
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Lighting as one knows it is in the process of undergoing radical changes with the initiation of LED lights which are set to transform all forms of lighting. This is because of their many advantages over traditional incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs like longer life expectancy, relatively low energy use, more efficient, break-resistant etc.

LED stands for light-emitting diode and are actually semiconductors (like computer chips) that produce light more efficiently than traditional light sources. Energy is emitted in the form of light when electricity is passed through them. The color of the light is determined by the chemicals which are doped or injected into the semiconductors. The majority of energy passed through LEDs is converted to light as opposed to incandescent bulbs that produce light as a by-product of being heated. For the same reason, LEDs can be up to 90% more efficient than traditional household filament light bulbs.

For nearly 40 years, LEDs have been widely used as in displays and indicator lights. It is only recently that engineers have figured out a way of making and mass-producing bright, white LEDs for general purpose lighting. Qualities of high brightness and convergence of light (point source) have made them an ideal choice for traffic and car tail lights, where visibility and dependability are essential.

So what are the things one should know before purchasing LED light bulbs? There are some basic guidelines which need to be followed.

  • The total lifetime cost of an LED light bulb is actually lower than that of equivalent incandescent and CFL bulbs, even though the initial cost per bulb is quite high
  • Lumen (short for luminous flux) needs to be understood when comparing LED light bulbs. The lumen is the standard unit for measuring the power of light as perceived by the human eye. Roughly, a lumen is a measure of brightness. Lumen quantity is important but even more important is lumen quality i.e. luminous efficacy (lumen/watt). Quality LEDs these days have a luminous efficacy between 90-100 lumens/watt.
  • Other key tools for comparing LED lights are color temperature and beam spread. Color temperature refers to the color of the light emitted whereas beam spread is the angle of the light that is being emitted. Both of them are measured in degrees
  • LEDs last 50-75 times longer than a comparable incandescent and 6-8 times longer than a CFL. The life span of an LED light bulb is its half life. That is to say, if a vendor says that the bulb will last 80,000 hours, it means the chips have reached 50% efficiency and now is the time for bulb replacement
  • LEDs require constant current to operate so cannot be dimmed with traditional dimmers. In order to dim an LED light, a 0-10 V dimming module is required
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