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LED Lights Refresh

25Jun

Old, Dull, Hot and Expensive – LED Lights Change All This.

What are LED Lights?

LED is a highly energy efficient lighting technology, and has the potential to fundamentally change the future of lighting in New Zealand. Residential LED lights, especially ENERGY STAR rated products, use at least 75% less energy, and last 25 times longer, than incandescent lighting.

Advantages to changing to LED lights

1. LED Light Lifespan

Easily the most significant advantage of LEDs when compared to traditional lighting solutions is the long lifespan. The average LED lasts 50,000 operating hours to 100,000 operating hours or more. That is 2-4 times as long as most fluorescent, metal halide, and even sodium vapor lights. It is more than 40 times as long as the average incandescent bulb.

Less frequent replacement means two big things

  • lower maintenance costs in terms of labor
  • lower costs for replacement parts because the bulbs simply do not fail for a long time.

2. LED Energy Efficiency

LED lights generally consume very low amounts of power. The statistics to look for when comparing the energy efficiency of different lighting solutions are called by one of two terms: luminous efficacy or useful lumens. These two items essentially describe the amount of light emitted per unit of power (watts) consumed by the bulb. In our experience most LED lighting retrofit projects result in a 60-75% improvement in the overall energy efficiency.

3. Improved Safety With LED Lights

Safety is perhaps the most often overlooked advantage when it comes to LED lighting. The number one hazard when it comes to lighting is the emission of heat. LEDs emit almost no forward heat while traditional bulbs like incandescents convert more than 90% of the total energy used to power them directly into heat. That means only 10% of the energy powering incandescent lights is actually used for light (which also makes them extremely inefficient compared to LEDs). Additionally, because LEDs consume less power they can operate effectively on low-voltage electrical systems. These are generally much safer in the event that something goes wrong.