Look at your options when looking for lighting
The incandescent bulb has been the standard in lighting since it was introduced over 100 years ago and we switched from candles. Incandescent lights are very inefficient as they expend a large portion of the energy needed to power them on heat. In the last few years compact fluorescent lights have become widely available and are now a common and easy to find replacement for standard incandescent bulbs. Although compact fluorescent lights are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs they are not suitable for all applications and are not as efficient as some emerging lighting technologies. The other problem with compact fluorescent lights is that they contain mercury which is toxic and difficult to dispose of.
One lesser know alternative to compact fluorescent lights for people looking for energy efficient replacement for their incandescent lights are LEDs or light emitting diodes. LEDs are very efficient as they waste very little energy on heat. LEDs can also easily be recycled and contain no toxic components. LED lights will also outlive even a compact fluorescent lamp by thousands of hours. The downside is that LEDs are still a bit expensive and the technology has not developed entirely so that it is a suitable alternative to incandescent or fluorescent.
However, it has been effectively adapted and applied to lighting applications such as Christmas lights, rope light, and landscape lights. The technology for use of LEDs has been developed well for use in these applications and the cost of these products in an LED is still higher than incandescent but is not unreasonable given the cost savings.
LED alternatives are also available for other lighting types as well. LED replacement bulbs are currently available for MR-16 type lamps that are commonly used in track lighting. LED lamps for the common PAR style bulb are also now available online but have not made it into big box stores and do not quite pack the same punch as their incandescent ancestors.
Lots of cool things are happening in lighting and most of us don’t get exposed to all the options because they haven’t hit the big box stores yet. However, if you do a little research and look around a bit online you can find some great lighting solutions that are more efficient than CFLs and better for the environment too.
Tags: Christmas lights, LED Christmas lights, LED landscape lighting, LED lights, rope light
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hey Phil — Is there a particular company online that sells LED’s that you would recommend?
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Noelle, it depends on what you are looking for. I own a company that sells LED Christmas lights and LED rope light so I know a little about those LED products. As far as the general LED lighting products go its really all over the map. I think that’s one of the problems right now because there are a bunch of sits out there that sell LED bulbs but none of them look all that legitimate to me. No one has really established themselves as a reputable leader in that market as far as I am concerned. I also know that there are a lot of LED products coming into the U.S. that infringe on patents and I think that explains, at least partially, why there is not 1 really reputable firm doing it. I think we’ll see some of those emerging soon. I’ll post something if I find one that I think is worth recommending.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Phil - you’re absolutely right about being all over the map. We’ve been sourcing LED lights from overseas (mostly China) for over 2 years - and the range in quality is quite wide. We’ve had LED bulbs from some manufacturers burn out within 1 day, some that run extremely hot and some that are excellent.
I would look for a company that has atleast a 3 year warranty on their products as well as UL Listing (very hard to find). I’ve heard many horror stories from resellers that sell non-UL listed bulbs, hoping to save energy, only to have to take them ALL out after they failed electrical inspection - due to lack of a UL label. For home users, a UL listing isn’t mandatory.
We are looking to source manufacturers with UL listing at the moment - and expect it in the next couple months from the majority of manufacturers (it’s a long process).
Eternaleds LED Light Bulbs