Light has always been an essential part of our daily lives. The technology of incandescent lighting was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879. His discovery is still seen today. However lighting technology has evolved enormously over the past century. Many different means and chemicals in generating illumination has been discovered and used in different applications. Each technology presents its strengths and weaknesses. It was not until after the 21st century did viable and high-brightness Light-emitting Diodes become commercially available. LED’s have become the superlative technology in the industry, far surpassing those of its counter-parts with the following reasons:
Cost Savings
High Efficacy
It is estimated that the world consumes one-fifth of its electricity output for luminance. Imagine the impact we could make if we are able to reduce this by half.
Today’s LED’s have reached extremely high efficacy levels that will allow it to save at least half its power consumption upon replacement of your existing lighting fixture. The reduced consumption in-turn helps reduce electricity charges from your utility company.
Uni-Directional Lighting
One great advantage from LED lighting comes from its natural characteristic of illuminating light directly to its source in a single direction. Other lighting technologies present light in an omni-directional fashion. The light directed upwards towards the sky or ceiling are often rendered useless or inefficient. The light presented by LED is targeted to the user and deemed highly effective and useful.
Lower Maintenance Cost
The beauty of LED’s also come from its high life expectancy, lasting up to 50,000 hours, as opposed to fluorescent lighting dying out after 10,000 hours of usage and halogen in 3,000 hours.
Since there is less frequent need in replacing LED lighting devices, there is less cost and labor involved in replacing burnt-out lamps with a new one. This is a very significant factor for large organizations where light needs to be replaced on a frequent basis.
No Disposal Fee from Mercury Content
The technology from fluorescent lighting relies on mercury gas particles reacting with electrode cathodes, exciting the particles to create spark and light. Mercury is a toxic gas that is hazardous to human health and the environment. It is therefore a requirement that we act responsibly by disposing of it properly. LED lighting in contrast allows for easy disposal, as it uses no toxic materials during its production and usage.
Environmental Conservation
Low Carbon Footprint
Our carbon monoxide concentration has never been higher throughout the history of mankind. The Industrial Revolution has triggered the mass usage of energy and it has not slowed down since with the world’s rapid economic expansion. The effects of global-warming could be a hazard to the existence of wild-life and humans. Scientists have long emphasized the need to reduce greenhouse gas.
With the ever-growing awareness of our environment, our society has placed heavy emphasis on social responsibility. The use of LED lighting will instantly reduce your carbon footprint from lighting by at least half.
Lower Heat Generation
In Physics, the ‘Law of Energy of Conservation’ dictates that energy could not be created or destroyed. If energy is fed into a lighting device and a portion of it is being converted into light, what happens to the rest? The excess is converted into heat energy, giving the characteristic burning heat radiated by inefficient incandescent and halogen lamps. The efficiency of LED ensures that a fraction of this heat is generated and the remainder energy being used as luminance.
The direction of where this heat is generated is of importance as well, as typical lighting devices tend to radiate most of its heat downwards, towards the user. LED Lighting, while generating less heat, also have heat-sinks which draw heat upwards, away from the user.
Low Resource Usage in the Long-term
The raw material used to manufacture fluorescent and LED lighting in its counterpart form is roughly the same, as they weigh roughly the same and share the same form.
However as mentioned above, the average life of one LED light bulb is five times that of fluorescent light bulbs. At a macro scale, the environmental impact in resource usage is huge when three and a half of these lights are being replaced to every LED light used.
Superior Quality
High Color Rendering Index (CRI)
CRI is often used as a benchmark on the quality of light. A higher CRI creates more accurate lighting as well as having objects being presented faithfully without misrepresentation. Interior Designers have long looked into CRI numbers to ensure that they are able to create quality designs for their clients.
Fluorescent lighting has long suffered from low CRI numbers. Since the invention and advancement of lighting, LED’s are able to surpass CRI numbers from fluorescent lighting, making them a preference for designers and architects alike.
It is also known that any lighting device with a high CRI with the same amount of lumens will have the perception of more luminance, making LED technology even more efficient in lighting.
Low Surface Temperature
With a lower operating and surface temperature, it not only helps with energy efficiency, it also makes it a safer alternative for residential, commercial and industrial use. The heat from incandescent bulb’s filament could reach temperatures in excess of 2,000°C. This makes it extremely dangerous to replace if not careful, as well as a potential for fire hazard. LED’s in comparison run much cooler, at much safer levels. Upon touching an LED’s enclosure, you will feel warmth that is well distributed via well-designed heat sinks.
Architects are also favoring LED’s as outdoor lighting requires very high luminance and wattages. The heat generated from Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium could often discolor and fade dyed materials. LED’s run at much cooler temperatures even when used outdoors. In addition, its characteristic heat sinks, which draw heat backwards, away from its light beam. This causes little to no effect in the transformation of fabric material colors.
Non-flickering Light
Fluorescent light, although not blatantly apparent presents a problem where the technology behind it requires high frequency sparking (AC, Alternative Current) of an electronic or magnetic ballast with the mercury gas to create a spark reaction. The ballast flickers continuously at a high frequency. Although not noticeable to many, some are quite sensitive to this flicker causing them with:
- Headaches
- Migraine
- Eye Strain
- Eye Sore
LED’s are lighted with a continuous stream of electricity called Direct Current (DC), therefore its lighting is consistent and non-flickering, avoiding all discomfort related to fluorescent lighting.
