For centuries, lighting technology which promised to light homes and business was trapped in a shell. There was little to choose between incandescent bulbs that refused to convert more than 5% electricity to light and were hell bent on raising air-conditioning bills and CFLs that were laced with mercury and produced substandard light.

Today the scenario has undergone a sea change. LED lights have revolutionized the way we light our homes. A quick net search shows many articles telling us that LED light bulbs are the lighting devices of the future. The fact is that they are the lights of the present and the future. LED tubes and bulbs are illuminating millions of smart homes today. LED light bulb technology is based on semiconductor devices. Along with the developments in the semiconductor field LED lighting technology has also seen quantum improvements in light quality, life of light bulbs and reduction in prices.

At today's prices using LED light bulbs is probably the smartest thing that you could do to reduce your lighting bills, carbon footprint, bulb replacement hassles and air-conditioning costs in one smart move. The added advantage is that you need not compromise on your lifestyle at all. Smart technologies like LED lights point towards a future where technology will provide us with devices that do their job at a fraction of the cost – both financial and environmental.

Advantages of LED lights

LED lights convert most of the electricity to light against a paltry 5% for incandescent bulbs.

LED bulb and tubes produce light comparable to incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes but use a fraction of the electricity. They use 9 to 10 times less electricity than bulbs and only half that of fluorescent tubes.

LED tube last 30,000 hours or more. That works out to almost ten years of service life. In contrast incandescent bulbs need to be replaced every few months and fluorescent devices every couple of years.

LED lights produce wide spectrum, flicker free, high quality light that has been shown to be of therapeutic value. High quality light is also known to increase productivity in the work place.

Light from an LED light source is well directed. Lenses disperse light for indoor use. In outdoor fixtures like cobra head street lights LED bulbs are prized not only for the phenomenal cost advantages that they bring but also because they reduce light pollution – making it possible for astronomers to view the stars unhindered. Light pollution is known to cause a wide range of psychological, physiological and aesthetic challenges in the urban landscape.

For companies it is not a question of “Why install LED lights?” but “How soon?” should they convert to this gold standard of lighting technology. After all one of the first tenets of business management is that operational effectiveness is mandatory to compete in the hyper competitive global business environment.

Utility companies and governments the world over are encouraging electricity customers to switch to energy efficient lighting. Several cities in the US including Ann Arbor, Valdez and Los Angeles have either switched to LED lights or are replacing their energy guzzling bulbs with the right lighting technology even as you read this article. The Government is promoting energy efficient lighting to control the spiraling demand for power. Utility companies no longer need to buy expensive electricity and pass some of the benefit thus garnered to customers as discounts on utility bills.

For someone contemplating living off grid or generating his own electricity either by using solar panels or wind turbines the logic of LED lights is compulsive. Alternate energy is more expensive than regular grid electricity. LED lights that reduce the need for electricity for lighting to one tenth are therefore an obvious choice.


For more information on LED Light Bulbs and LED Tube, visit: http://www.myledlightingguide.com/