What’s in Your Lamp? LED, CLF or Incandescent
Posted by lindseyshoe
Let’s compare the light in our life — as well as it’s energy efficiency and cost. Which light will you be using in the future?
Bye Bye Incandescent
At first a marvel and soon taken for granted, it is time to give the electric light bulb some thought once again. Technology is making newer and greener alternatives available and eco-friendly laws are putting some old lighting bulls out to pasture.
Incandescent light bulbs will soon be a thing of the past. Incandescent light bulbs have provided the light we’ve become accustomed to in a shape that’s universally recognized and at a cost so inexpensive that incandescent light bulbs could even be found at the dollar stores.
So what’s the problem? Incandescent light bulbs are not energy efficient and therefore use more electricity. That increases electricity cost to consumers as well as the carbon footprint. Incandescent light bulbs are going out of style and unlike the Rubik’s Cube and bell bottoms, the incandescent light bulb market is not likely to reemerge. Over 40 countries, led by Australia and including the United States, have begun a phase out banning of incandescent bulbs.
Re-Introducing Fluorescent and CFL
Fluorescent lights and especially the compact fluorescent lights, also called CFLs, are a more eco-friendly lighting solution than incandescent lights. Even with the growing green movement, fluorescent light bulbs have had a bad first impression to brighten. The long-term economical savings and reduced maintenance for changing longer lasting florescent light bulbs were first taken advantage of in commercial and institutional properties. Many people came to associate the different look of fluorescent lights with office cubicles or unpleasant government buildings. Fluorescent light bulbs also debuted with an annoying lighting lag time.
Today fluorescent lights come on instantly and the color is very close to the warm colors of incandescent lights. According to Russel Leslie, director of Lighting Research Center at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute says, “We’ve done the tests,” and he explains that “With current technology, you can’t distinguish the difference unless you see the light bulb.” he said.
The real advantage is in CFLs, which use 75% less electricity and last ten times longer. One incandescent bulb replaced can reduce CO2 emissions by 67 pounds over the lifetime of the bulb.
The drawback of course is that CFLs are often at least 4 times the price of our old familiar incandescent light bulbs. Of course over time the savings of incandescent light bulbs is lost in electricity and replacement cost. Another drawback of CFL bulbs is that they contain a small amount of mercury and therefore must be recycled properly in a city or county collection center for CFLs, an IKEA store or Home Depot store.
Hello LED
Early adopters and green enthusiasts have embraced LED lights and it is predicted that in the future LED lights will be common in homes and offices, street lamps and beyond. LED stands for light-emitting diodes.
What’s all the fuss over LED lights? An LED light bulb currently has an operational life of 100,000 hours. That equals up to eleven years of continuous use or twenty-two years of half-day use. Compare that to incandescent light bulbs, which last little more than 5,000 hours, LED lights could make routine bulb changing a relic of the past. Even better, LED lights approach an 80% efficiency rating, compared to the incandescent light bulb with only a 20 % efficiency rating.
So what’s not to love about LED lights? Currently, it is the cost. Compared to a $1.00 incandescent bulb or a $4.00 CFL bulb, a similar LED bulb is $40.00. In the long term, it lasts twenty times as long, yes, but right now it still forty times the cost. Researchers at Purdue University are tackling one of the high cost factors in creating LED lights. They are created on a first layer of sapphire. Purdue researchers have developed a technique to create the LED with a lower cost, metal-coated silicon wafer instead. As with all new technologies, the price of LED lights has dropped and is predicted to continue to drop.
What do Experts See in the Future?
“The LED technology has the potential of replacing all incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs, which would have dramatic energy and environmental ramifications,” said Timothy D. Sands, the Basil S. Turner Professor of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Sounds like the future of lighting is bright and green.
2 Responses to “What’s in Your Lamp? LED, CLF or Incandescent”
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John Morin says:
Hello I run only LED lighting, mostly strips of 10 mm white we bought from MPJA in FL.
Their prices are some of the best, short of buying direct from China.
We have a completely solar home here in Milo ME.
IT WORKS – NO GRID FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS.
johnbrownville [AT] netzero.com
I hope the LED comes on quickly as the CFL is a snow job. They (CFL) still contain Hg and work well in only one orientation. They also do not last as long as reported when in actual usage of being turned on and off frequently. How do we get ourselves stampeded into any thing new without practical evaluation??
John Eisele