Top 8 things to know when purchasing low energy light bulbs

When you look at the statistics for how much power is consumed by lighting in the world you will understand why it is important to start making moves now to choose more efficient light technology in your home. Approximately 19 per cent of the power used on a global scale goes to lighting. Imagine what could happen if everyone chose more efficient options? This blog aims to help you choose the best low energy light bulbs for your home as well as educate you on the different types of light alternatives available.

Before we get into the modern day alternatives for light energy in your home, lets look at the facts behind the incandescent light bulbs your currently use.

Incandescent Bulbs:

Only 10 per cent of the energy used in incandescent light bulbs is used to actually emit light. The other 90 per cent is used to heat the filament in the light bulb to 2,500°C so it will produce light. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the 90% of energy given out as heat is a huge waste.

The Incandescent Bulb Replacements:

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs):

CFLs are the longer lights mainly found in offices and warehouses. These lights produce less heat so they don’t use up as much energy however they can do this because they use a combination of argon and mercury and mercury is difficult to dispose of. CFLs aren’t an ideal option for your home.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs):

LEDs are the buzzword everywhere at the moment and there is good reason why. LEDs don’t use as much energy for heat so are a much more efficient lighting source. LEDs produce light through the movement of electrons and therefore they don’t have a filament so don’t burn out as quickly as incandescent lights do. The downside is that these lights are more complex and therefore more expensive up front, but the investment pays itself off via the endurance of these lights.

LEDs are the best option for lighting your home and the lifespan of a typical LED is up to 14 years. Not only will you no longer have to replace those old incandescent light bulbs every year but you will be doing your part to help the environment too. Here is our advice when choosing LEDs for your home.

1. Price: You need to be pre-warned that the price tag on LED lighting does look high when you initially start looking but you must view LED as more of an investment. LED lights last much longer that conventional light bulbs and so you won’t be replacing your lights every years or so. You will also see a change to your electricity bills because LED lights don’t use as much energy. The combination of these two factors means you will reap the benefits of your LED choice soon enough and well into the future.
2. Intensity: LEDs work in lumens not watts so you need to know how many lumens you need to get the correct brightness in your home. Most LED lighting has a guide on the packaging but just to give you an idea, a 40W incandescent bulb is the same as an LED with 390 to 460 lumens.
3. Mood lighting: You can choose the warmth of your LED lighting for your home via the range of shades they have available from a cold, bright light to a warmer yellow. The correlated colour temperature (CTT) is measured on the Kelvin scale, named after the physicist William Kelvin back in the late 1800s. A warmer light generally has a colour temperature of 3,000K. A cooler, white colour is typically in the range of 4,100K and higher.
4. Dimmers: One problem that has been found with the newer LED lights is that dimmer switches tend not to work. You need to check the compatibility of your current dimmers with your LED supplier or dimmer switch supplier. This is a good time to use the theory ‘Ask and thou shalt receive’ and see if you can get a free trial with an LED bulb to see if there are any problems. With all the options available you will be able to find an LED that is attuned with your system.
5. Angles: If you have specific beam angles in your home and you are wanting to create the same effect with your new lights then you need to consider an LED light that is slightly wider. This is because traditional lights have a reflector that helps to spread the angle of the light wider.
6. Heat: We already know that LEDs produce a lot less heat than traditional, incandescent bulbs however the small amount of heat they do produce has to go somewhere to avoid malfunctions. If you have unusual circumstances in your home make sure you discuss it with your LED manufacturer first.
7. Guarantee: As discussed above, the lifespan of LED is much, much longer than incandescent bulbs and there are some circumstances above that could cause a failure in the system. Check to make sure your LED lights come with a guarantee and check for how long. A rule of thumb in the industry seems to be 3 years so work with that number.
8. Insects: As an extra bonus for those out there a little squeamish about insects, LEDs do not attract moths et al. as much as the incandescent bulbs do so you will have less bug issues in the summer time.