8 Things You May Not Know About LEDs

If you want to know why everyone is talking about switching over to light-emitting diodes (LED) at home, here are 8 things you may not know about LEDs which may help illuminate the phenomenon:

1. LEDs use a semiconductor to convert electricity into light. The process occurring in LEDs are 6 to 7 times more efficient than that of a conventional bulb. That means the use of energy to run your lights drops by 80% when you change your conventional bulbs to LEDs.

2. A quality LED light bulb can last for more than 25,000 hours. The long lifespan of LEDs beats conventional lighting 25 times over. Imagine running your lights 24 hours a day for three straight years – that’s how long it would take wear out a quality LED bulb.

3. Normal bulbs waste energy as heat waves! Approximately 90% of the energy used by traditional light bulbs is wasted in creating heat. LEDs produce very little heat which will increase your energy efficiency. You will only light your room instead of also running a very small heater while trying to read.

4. LEDs are used in more appliances than light fixtures. LEDs can be found nowadays in traffic lights, car lights, television sets, and display cases. This wide application is attributable to the LED’s compact size, durability, easy maintenance, and capacity to focus light in one direction.

5. LEDs emit les UV radiation than any other type of light. LEDs do not contain mercury and are harmless when broken. LEDs have significantly less of an environmental impact than incandescent bulbs. They are bound to surpass the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in usage as LED technology continues to improve.

6. The inventor of the first visible-spectrum LED in 1962 was Nick Holonyak, Jr. Since that time, technology has advanced and the cost of LEDs has dropped. The worldwide sales of LED bulbs increased to 22% as the cost of a 60-watt LED bulb steadily decreased by approximately 40% from 2011 - 2012. At this rate, LEDs could account for 75% of all lighting retail by 2030.

7. LED light assemblies installed in the U.S. increased to 49 million units in 2012. This number is only increasing as the Energy Department started funding solid-state lighting R&D, receiving 58 or more patents. Among the projects undergoing testing, developments are in the works for new ways to use resources, emit more light, and resolve underlying technical challenges.

8. The collective savings of the LEDs in use during 2012 in the U.S. accounted for a $675 million in energy usage. The estimate for energy cost savings over the next 10 – 20 years, should the country switch entirely to LED lighting, is approximately $250 billion. This would mean a nearly 50% reduction in electricity consumption for lighting and the decrease of approximately 1,800 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

LED lights are more efficient with your money and our environmental resources – and they’re only going to improve as the technology continues to undergo testing and refinement. As the use of LEDs expands, the whole nation has the opportunity to decrease our negative effect on the planet with the switch of a light bulb.