The Future Generation Of Energy Efficient Bulbs
Dec 20, 2009 Save Energy
Regular light bulbs (also known as incandescent lamps) convert rather less than twenty percent of the electricity they consume into actual light. This is because they quite literally burn a thin metal filament and as with all burning, most of the electricity is lost as heat. To suggest they’re not therefore particularly good at doing the one thing they’re supposed to do (i.e. turn electricity into light) is understating things somewhat.
As a small heater the average traditional light bulb is not bad, but unfortunately this heat is typically wasted someplace useless like the ceiling and if you’re actually trying to keep the temperature down then all they do is make your air conditioning work harder. Whichever way you cut it, you are paying good money for heat you almost certainly don’t want and getting a poor deal on light.
Energy saving or “low energy” light bulbs that are significantly more efficient have been available for quite a few years now. These usually take the form of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and are currently the most commonly available type of energy saving bulb for the domestic market. CFLs have not really caught on though, most probably because they’re oversized, take a considerable period of time to reach maximum brightness and are expensive by comparison with incandescent bulbs. Despite some improvements to make CFLs more discrete, attain maximum brightness in less time, and reduce the price but there is no hiding the fact that they have a poor image, which is not helped by the fact that they also contain toxic mercury vapour and are thus not easy to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way.
The new breed of energy saving light bulbs are based on light emitting diodes (LED). These are orders of magnitude more energy saving than present CFLs but until very recently have not been quite bright enough for general domestic lighting.
However LED bulbs recently appearing in the market are indeed viable as genuine alternatives, and in particular those designed as substitutes for GU10 and MR16 halogen lamps. But anyone contemplating trying this road should also know that many white LED bulbs, and in particular ones described as “cool” as distinct from “warm” white) may appear slightly blue which some folk find quite attractive but which generally do tend to stick out rather if blended with other kinds of lighting.
The main benefit of LED light bulbs is that they turn most of their input electricity into light and lose practically none as heat which in a nutshell means that they need a whole lot less energy to run them. About ten times less in fact, which is a huge cost saving since the cost of electric lighting is almost entirely down to the running cost. The cost of the light bulbs themselves is insignificant by comparison.
It’s also a fact that LED lights last twenty or more times longer and thus require replacing far less frequently. The benefits should be fairly plain then; LED lights not only save you financially, they also help the environment. The manufacturing process is more straightforward than for CFL bulbs and there are no awkward disposal headaches.
But the primary environmental impact is down to the fact that because they use much less electricity then less electricity has to be produced which in turn means less CO2 emissions.
If you would like to discover more then try this article about GU10 LED.
Tags: 12v lighting, cfl, energy saving, Energy Saving Light Bulbs, fluorescent, green issues, halogen, halogen replacements, home, Led, Led Lighting, lighting, low energy light, save energy, Save Money
How Innovative LED Lighting Can Save Fuel and Reduce CO2 Emissions
Jun 27, 2009 Save Fuel
David Hulick explains how utilizing efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) automotive lighting can save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.
Tags: automotive, Automotive Lighting, car, co2, Co2 Emissions, electric, environmental, Ford, fuel, Led, Led Lighting, Light Emitting Diode, mustang, osram, reduction, saving, Sylvania