10 Things You Didn’t Know About LED Lighting
2015 is the year of the LED.
While halogen incandescent bulbs are still being made, 40W, 60W, 75W, 100W, and 150W bulbs – the lights you grew up with – are gone forever. Unless, of course, you were one of the few who paid attention to the “lightbulb law” that Congress passed in 2007 and stockpiled your own private stash because you knew you’d miss their warm glow.
The stockpiling occurred, in part, because it seemed like the only bulbs we could buy were the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) – the most common being the “curly bulbs” that take time to brighten and which flicker and buzz. And worse, CFL lighting makes us all look a little sickly, and in the era of the selfie – well, that just won’t do.
Thankfully, even if you didn’t know about the lightbulb law, companies like us have been advancing LED technology and designing bulbs that are far superior to CFLs. Our intelligent LIFX bulb, for example, can deliver the same warm glow that made us all love incandescent lighting.
Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about LED lighting:
1. LED is only the fourth lightbulb technology ever invented in our planet’s history – the arc lamp in 1802, the incandescent as we know it in 1878, the fluorescent in the 1930s, and the LED in 1962.
2. LEDs reach full brightness the second they’re switched on vs CFLs which can take 20-30 seconds to get there.
3. Many of today’s LEDs can last 20-25 years, but with the technology evolving as fast as it is, it’s likely that future ones will last 40-50 years. Imagine only having to change a lightbulb once or twice in a lifetime!
4. LEDs use even less energy than fluorescents. In fact, the Department of Energy estimates that after most of us have switched to LEDs during the next decade, the yearly energy savings would equal the annual output of 44 large electric power plants!
5. Unlike CFLs, LEDs do not contain toxic mercury! No convoluted multi-step recycling process.
6. LEDs never burn out. The light output just dims – similar to what happens to computer screens after a number of years.
7. LEDs can come in different colours. Better still, some bulbs can give you millions of colour options – any colour, any shade, from daylight to sexy purple – all from one bulb, as in our LIFX, for example.
8. LEDs can be smart enough to be controlled with your smartphone – no matter where you are. And some, like our LIFX bulbs can even connect to the Nest.
9. LEDs are essentially lightbulbs with computers built in, even if they’re not all smart. It’s why they all cost a little more up front and why some cost more than others, but their payoff in energy savings, quality of light, environmental friendliness, the special effects,and more, is far greater!
10. LED stands for LIGHT EMITTING DIODE. Light is generated by the movement of electrons on a semiconductor surface, whereas fluorescents ionize mercury vapor to generate light. The rapid advancements in semiconductor technology has enabled LED to move from being the lighting of the future to today’s smarter, more ecologically responsible lighting solution.
Welcome to the future!