What are the benefits of LEDs over standard, incandescent light bulbs?
Although your question is simple, the answer is slightly more complex.
Incandescent bulbs use a wire filament inside a glass housng — the filament heats up, and energizes the gases within the glass envelope. Without heat, the lamp cannot light – The more heat, the brighter the light. This is the simple explanation for incandescent lighting. Incandescent bulbs are considered the least efficient type of lighting available as of this posting.
LED lamps use Light Emitting Diodes – a tiny semi-conducter that produces a cool, bright white light when subjected to electric current.. The diodes can be "tweaked" to resemble different colors such as candlelight, incandescent light, etc
LED lamps are typically arranged in clusters (which cannot be seen), and when they light up, they use very little energy and they are very cool to the touch. .For example a 4 watt LED bulb is comparable in light output to a 20 watt incandescent bulb. The importance of this is not just the 16 watts of energy consumption, but the difference in the heat factor.
An LED lamp – even in higher "flood " wattages will remain cool to the touch — thereby saving in the cost of air conditioning/cooling-an important factor to consider in todays commercial buildings and even in our own homes.
LED lamps are now available in many markets to replace some of the common bulbs we use – ceiling floods, table lamps, desk lamps, etc. Their long life – rated at 50,000 hours- and multiple bulb types make them an option to consider for anyone wishing to "go green" in their home or business.
