Last Updated on April 2, 2020 by The Tutor
How Do LED Lights Work?
One big factor that improves your home is which type of light you choose. Incandescent light bulbs are very common within a lot of houses, but little it is known about other types of lightning.
LED ( light emitting diode ) is an innovative way for whoever wants to make some energy saving improvements. Some countries only accept this type of lightning and it’s clearly written in every homeowner’s contract.
How do LED lights work?
LED lights (light emitting diode) are semiconductors that light up when electrons pass through them. LED lightning is not only different in its purpose, but different in mechanism than other light sources.
LEDs are much smaller at the bottom and have no filaments within their construction. The whole LED is fully white and non-transparent – you can’t really get your eyes through; the bottom side seems to be an unbreakable base.
LED bulbs do not have a filament and they work with the movement of electricity that comes within the semiconductor. That’s a big plus on creating a wider atmosphere in your house.
Behind the scenes, those electrons from the semiconductor are transferred into LEDs as electromagnetic radiations. Whenever the ‘ radiation ‘ term comes in people’s mind, they think the bad part. But the electromagnetic radiation takes form of a visible light: much stronger than incandescent light, but not so pricey.
Advantages and disadvantages of LED lights
There are many Green Organizations that are trying to improve the energy saving process. Green and futuristic houses have been made in other to perceive a greater environment. As a fact, most of this houses and Green Organizations are using the LED mechanism.
Advantages of LED Lights
The main purpose of LED lightning is to provide efficiency energy consumption. Those radiations that we’ve been talking about are turned into 95% light and 5% heat – a process that usually doesn’t happen when using a traditional light source. In comparison, any other type of light creates 5% light and 95% heat – meaning that the battle of energy consumption is lost.
Even if it’s different, LED lightning doesn’t bring toxic elements within your home. Much better, it prevents mercury and other chemicals to spread and get into your body.
Another advantage of using LED is that you can use it for a long time. Usually, incandescent bulbs need to be replaced once at three or four months. In this case, LEDs can do it better. It is also depends on how much type you spend with your light open, but a LED can take up to 100 000 hours; which means LED is five time more resistant than an incandescent and fluorescent lights.
The greatest advantage can be the way LED can be designed. It comes in different forms, which means it can fit in any kind of atmosphere. LED is not just in a bulb form, but you can find it as a rectangular, star-shape, as a big circle, and so on.
Disadvantages of LED Lights
You won’t pay a pricier electricity bill while using LED, but as a first time buying, it costs double than usual. It’s not a true disadvantage because you know that investing will bring you energy efficient home improvements. But for some, may be a real trouble.
Even if it’s wide in forms, LED lightning is limited in colors. It only comes in the form o white light, and sometimes may be blue ( due to some deformations ).
Because it only creates 5% of heat, LEDs won’t adapt to higher temperature. If it’s too warm, the LED lamp won’t work properly, and it may eliminate harmful toxins. As long as your house is not in the desert, everything will be find in the end.
What’s the estimated cost compared to other types of lights?
To make a proper comparison, we have to analyze a long-term objective. After many researches and studies made on LEDs and efficiency, it seems like you can save up to $200 per year using LED lights.
Here is the comparison:
- Incandescent Bulb – Price $1 – Energy cost per 1,200 hours = $9
- CFL Bulb = Price $3 = Energy cost per 1,200 hours = $6.36
- LED Bulb = Price $8 = Energy cost per 1,200 hours = $1.44
Now lets put this into perspective. LED bulbs last 20 times longer than incandescent and 3 times longer than CFL bulbs. Therefore, your break even point by switching to LED is about one year. The longer you live in the home, the more money you save on the energy used and the cost of the bulbs.
The other hidden cost here when comparing to incandescent bulbs is the heat reduction when switching to LED. Incandescent bulbs create heat which would need to be offset in the summer by higher air conditioning costs. That cost differential is likely small but still need to be factored into the equation.
