How to choose LED bulbs

HOW TO CHOOSE LED BULBS


There is nothing but good news these days about LED bulbs since prices have dropped (they still cost more to buy than incandescent bulbs, but it will save you watts of money in the long term.) You can choose warmer colors of light instead of a more powerful light or a too-white light from older LEDs.
The benefits of LED lights are clear. MIT Technology Review summarizes them:

For the consumer, the main benefits of LED devices are clear: they are energy efficient, can last more than 20 years and, in many cases, emit good light. Prices have dropped steadily, as LED components have fallen in price and lighting companies introduce better designs.

Consumers have suffered from confusion when selecting light bulbs, however. It is not surprising. LEDs come in different shapes and colors of light, and it's hard to know at a glance how they compare in brightness to our favorite incandescent bulbs.
To simplify the experience of buying and using LED bulbs, this is what you need to know, divided into five rules:

1. Install the LEDs where you will use them most

LED bulbs are still costly and so, unless you have the budget to replace all the bulbs in your home immediately, you will have to replace the bulbs while they burn out. In the long term, your investment will return energy savings.

But, as Stacy Johnson, founder of Money Talks News, has learned, it doesn't matter where you use your LED bulbs if you don't expect your investment to return soon. Put an LED in your closet, for example, or another place where the bulb is rarely used, and it can be years and years before the cost of the bulb is paid in energy savings. It is best to use your LEDs where the reward will be faster, in the lighting fixtures that get more use in the high traffic parts of your home.

2. Lumens shop, not watts

Watts are a measure of the amount of energy the bulb draws, not its brightness. However, we are used to buying incandescent bulbs for their watts, and we know how much light is expected from a 60, 100 or 150 watt bulb.

LED bulbs are also rated by watts. But that doesn't help because there is no easy way to compare LED watts with incandescent watts.
Incandescent LED Lumens
25 watts 3-4 watts 250
40 4-5 450
60 6-8 800
75 9-13 1,100
100 16-20 1,600
125 21-23 2,000
150 25-28 2,600

3. Get the color of the light you want

If it went out because of the harsh white light quality of the older LEDs, you'll be glad to know that there are more options now. LED bulbs offer a range of colors, from a warmer white-yellow, similar to the color of incandescent bulbs, to a whiter white or bluish white.

Check the package of a bulb to know its color, these also shows its temperature on the Kelvin scale (learn more from Khan Academy). Kelvin's lower numbers mean a warmer colored light. The higher the Kelvin number, the more blue the light will be. EarthEnergy, a retailer, offers this guide to buy LED bulbs:

Yellow light: 2700-3000K.
White: 3500-4100K.
Blue: 5000-6500K

4. Match the shape of the bulb to your device

LED bulbs come in a number of unknown forms. You will find spiral bulbs, different types of balloons, spotlights, and some in the form of candle flames. A useful form is the MR16, a small, cone-shaped bulb.

5. Choose the right bulb for dimmers

Another problem with LEDs used to be the search for bulbs that were compatible with dimmer switches in your home. Some buzzing, blinking or simply do not respond to a dimmer switch.

The solution is to buy a nominal regulator switch for CFL and LED lamps. Two renowned manufacturers of CFL / LED dimmers are Leviton and Lutron; Both provide lists of bulbs that have verified that they will work with their dimmers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LED streetlight

Image
The public spaces in the cities are full of old lighting systems, incandescent lights that have not been renovated and that generate high energy expenditure, high luminescent pollution and, above all, excessive CO2 emission are common. With the emergence of LED technology for lighting in the 60s, of the last century and its subsequent incorporation with the LED lamppost to public spaces, during the 90s, these issues, of global concern, have diminished; Nowadays, lighting is not the form of energy that generates the most pollution. The use of an LED lamppost comprises many edges, which are beneficial for society in general. While it is true they promote environmental conservation, they are also a form of direct savings. Incandescent systems, that is high-pressure steam (VSAP), or metal halide (HM), are not very durable compared to LEDs. A VSAP, for example, can offer durability of a thousand hours, while the LED system guarantees up to 50 thousand hours, being able to prolong its...
Read more

BENEFITS OF INDUSTRIAL LED Lights

Image
Light is increasingly important in the industrial sector, because thanks to energy-efficient and more advanced lighting technology, modern and planned lighting for the industry can lower service costs, improve both visual conditions and promote concentration, increase Productivity and operational safety through integration into intelligent control networks and at the same time protect the environment.  In addition, legal provisions are increasingly stringent. Industrial LED lighting is a system that is implemented in warehouses, factories, plants, warehouses, and industrial buildings in order to improve visibility in this type of spaces where the area is quite extensive and the activities carried out in it require very conditions specific so that they can be carried out properly. Although it appears to be an electrical system in order to illuminate like any other, it actually requires very precise specifications to avoid any damage to the electrical installation and me...
Read more

The PoE connection in lighting

Image
The PoE connection can become a viable alternative to  conventional  power lines  to connect lighting applications to the Internet and distribute electricity.  The biggest advantage of lighting over Ethernet is that it is very easy and cheap to perform simultaneous data transmission and serves as a power source. The local and autonomous power supply of a device is often problematic when said element is intended to be installed in places that are not easily accessible or without power;  Such is the case of IP surveillance cameras.  Installing power near these elements can sometimes be very difficult and expensive. With the  PoE  (Power over Ethernet) connections,  the household lighting  system  would change radically since it would only be necessary to pull UTP cable from the port of a PoE connection to the group of  LED lights  to be powered and controlled by an IP. Thus,  LED lights with PoE  do...
Read more