LED Light Bulbs – The Advanced “Green Technology”

You may have heard that LED lightbulbs are energy efficient and eco-friendly options for lighting your home. But have you ever heard why? In this article, we’ll be discussing factual information verified by electrical engineers.

LEDs OVERALL LAST LONGER

LED light bulbs consume overall 60-70% less energy than alternative options. In fact, here is a list of LEDs power percentages compared with other types of light bulbs.

LED COMPARED WITH COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS (CFL)

Though the CFLs have been established and providing light for more than 100 years, LEDs have plenty of ways of beating them. The biggest? Is that LED is more energy-efficient. 

• CFL has about a 10,000-hour lifespan before burning out vs. LED lights that are equipped with a durable lifespan of  50,000 – 100,000 hours worth. 

LED COMPARED WITH HIGH-INTENSITY DISCHARGE LIGHT BULBS (HID) 

HID light bulbs are the oldest form of electrical light. However, this means that they are somewhat outdated in some ways. One of these includes how much energy they consume.

• HID has around 30% of energy that’s not outputting through light. In simple terms, it’s consuming energy just to waste it. While LED consumes less energy to produce more light. 

LED COMPARED WITH HIGH-PRESSURE SODIUM (HPS) AND LOW-PRESSURE SODIUM (LPS) LIGHT BULBS

High-pressure sodium and low-pressure sodium light bulbs are a specific type of bulb referred to as, “Gas-Discharge Light Bulbs” (Also known as a high-intensity discharge HID  or LIC bulb). 

• HPS and LPS light bulbs can add up in cost because of how much energy they consume. In most cases, you’re looking at 2.80 per day per lightbulb. Varying on what state you live in and the electricity prices, this can add up to around 84 dollars a month. Though LED is a higher investment, (usually ranging within a couple of dollars to conserve energy) LEDs have the advantage of saving you money. For example, for each hour your bulb has used 100x 24x/1000 (e.g., 2.4 kilowatts). Depending on your area, this may have used 0.10 worth of power. Making the cost of electricity 0.24 cents a day, per light bulb. 

LEDs COMPARED WITH INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULBS

Lastly, with the most famously used bulb, we’re going to compare LED with Incandescent light bulbs to see our best option. We all know that incandescent bulbs have been around for a while and while they usually are the cheaper bulb at the beginning, let’s see how fast their expenses can add up.

• One 100-watt incandescent light bulb, running for a full year, would use around 876 kilowatts. This equals 136.40 for one bulb. Let’s not forget about replacing that light bulb because of the short lifespan of around 1,000 hours. We’ve already figured the amount of money that one LED light bulb would use per year to compare with this, but another thing to note is that LEDs have a longer lifespan of 50,000 hours!

CONCLUSION 

The cost of lighting your home or business doesn’t have to be pricey to be green. LEDs are the way to conserve energy while being cost-efficient for all of its lifespan!

AUTHOR’S BIO

Michael Tobias is the founder and principal of Nearby Engineers and New York Engineers, which is an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Company in America. He leads a team of more than 30 mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineers from the company headquarters in New York City, and has led numerous projects in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, and California, as well as Singapore and Malaysia. He specializes in sustainable building technology and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.