Things to Consider Whenever Buying an LED Light

You’ve may have heard that LED lights are cost saving, energy saving and environmentally friendly. All very true. Yet whenever you venture right down to the store (or online site) to get them, you had better know that which you are doing or you might just end up with the incorrect bulb. You will find five key things to be aware of:

First, ensure you know what sort of bulb you need to replace. This sounds very straightforward, but just once we joke about computer users phoning the support line to express their computer isn’t working… only to understand they hadn’t plugged it in!… selecting an LED replacement bulb requires that you realize a) the base dimension and fitting type (i.e. can it be a mess fitting or bayonet fitting; can it be a thin candle type bulb or a standard incandescent globe etc.).

Take note of the dimensions of your bulbs and also take not of the space within a lamp shade or housing. While LED lighting was created to closely resemble more traditional lights, there might be differences in size.

Second, you will need to determine what the equivalent LED light is for your old bulb replacement. This is quite tricky when products do not have the necessary information on the packaging led downlight supplier. You are seeking only one thing: lumen output data. In simple terms, lumens will be the measure of light intensity. A 10 lumen light will offer negligible light (barely enough to stay on course around a room) while a 2000 lumen light will enable you to read a guide in a room. The reason for this really is that unlike incandescent lights, just like a 60W or 100W bulb, which radiate similar variety of lumens, LED lights can have different lumen outputs (a W or Watt, is just a measure of the energy needed to light your bulb. Generally, the higher the watts, the brighter the bulb).

To displace a 60W light bulb you should find an LED light that gives 600-700 lumens of light. Now if this isn’t stated on the packaging, you’ll have no idea that which you are now buying. There may be anything from 5W to 12W LED lights on the shelf so you’ll need certainly to ask a secretary for the lumen output. Most LED globes reach between 50 and 80 lumens per watt, with some even brighter at 100 lumens per watt. Don’t buy before you have the best wattage with the necessary lumen output to complement that which you currently have.

Third, look for light color. Now by this I don’t mean red, yellow, blue etc. LED lighting was created to produce “white” light. White light is a mix of the visible light spectrum, but not absolutely all white light is white. Confused? What this means is that you can get LED light that’s similar in color to an incandescent light – what we call “warm white” light that will be slightly yellow – through normal white and daylight white and entirely through to “cool white”, that will be extremely bright and very clinical. You will see the difference by considering a fluorescent light (likely to be cool white) and comparing that light to a regular bulb (likely to be warm white). This is important because the type of light will change the ambience. Use a warm white light in an office and you’ll strain your eyes and get a gloomy effect… but work with a cool white light in your bedroom or lounge and you’ll think you’re in a hospital ward!

The fourth thing to consider is whether the light is “dimmable” ;.When you can more or less dim any standard light, not absolutely all LED lights can be dimmed. This is because their electronic circuits cannot operate effectively at really low power inputs – after all, they’re already low power consumers. You’ll damage non-dimmable LED lights very quickly in the event that you connect them to a dimmer circuit – so don’t. Rather buy lights which can be clearly marked “dimmable” ;.

The last thing to think about is longevity and warranty. Most manufacturers rate their bulbs for a 50 000 hour life. That’s 136 years at one hour a day… the warranty may only be 1 year. So you’ll have spent a horrible fortune if 2 yrs later, your bulb “dims” (as LED lights don’t really “blow”, the only method you’ll understand that something is wrong is if they appear to become “dim”). Not all bulbs are exactly the same quality and so you’ll have to think about the manufacturer’s brand and reputation before buying.

While those are the important thing “technical” issues, also understand that not absolutely all lights will undoubtedly be cost effective. LED lights are far more expensive to get than standard incandescent’s and compact fluorescent tubes (CFTs). You’ll have already been bombarded by advertising that says “Low cost”, “Runs on the tenth of the electricity of ordinary bulbs”, “Lasts for 50000 hours” etc. All true! But, if you should be buying a US$20 bulb that’s all the above characteristics, and you’re only deploying it for one hour per day (say in your bedside lamp), it will last 50 000 days, cost you less when compared to a cent one hour to run…BUT…you’ll only break even on your extra expense over buying incandescent bulbs in 10 years (taking power increases and opportunity costs in account).

Generally, the more you utilize LED lights, the shorter the payback period. If you’re environmentally conscious, and buying LED lights to cut back your carbon footprint, that’ll not be an issue, but if you want to save money in the immediate future, replace only those lights which can be used extensively.