Everything You Need to Know About LED Lights for Your Home
By Timothy Tibbetts |
Thinking about going LED in your home? I've purchased over 50 LED bulbs in the past 8-10 years and here's everything I have learned the hard way. I've owned bulbs that don't look like bulbs, bulbs that pause before they come on and other issues. These problems no longer exist, and LED bulbs are coming down in price and even promising a longer lifespan than ever before. Win-win.
Almost all the information you need can be seen typically on the front of most packages.
But, let's take a look at what all of this means.
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Cost and Lifespan: LED bulbs can be expensive, but they pay for themselves and eventually save you money. In the past couple of years, prices have dropped, and they can often be found on sale. On average, a 650 lumen light bulb will use around 10 watts. Using less power can potentially save you $100, or more, over the lifetime of the bulb.
It should be noted that LED bulbs do not just burn out but instead, the light level will drop over time. A rule of thumb is 50% drop in light at 50% of the bulbs rated life. Eventually, your LED bulb will stop working so you'll have plenty of warning that a replacement is due. For this reason, lifespan is very important.
You'll want to understand how they determine a LED lights life. Most LED bulbs will claim a lifespan in the neighborhood of 20 years or 20,000 hours, but that number often is higher. The years (or hours) of a LED bulb lifespan is based on 3 hours of use per day. Factor in daylight savings time and most of you will fall pretty close to the 3 hours a day over the course of a year. If not, then get out your calculator.
So, all LED bulbs are not created equally. Here's an example. Just this week I purchased a 4 foot LED shop light. I saw one on sale at a name brand store for about 40 bucks in a Sunday paper. Just in case, I checked another big box store who had the same size shop light, but it had a 5,000 hour longer life, 200 more lumens and used less power. The price difference? One dollar more. That dollar will be back in my pocket in not time. You can check out that shop light here on Amazon.
Lumens: Lumens is a way to determine how much light a bulb puts out. It works similar to how you're used to buying bulbs by the wattage. A good guideline is 650 lumens is equivalent to 65 watts. Most people will want to be in that range.
LED Light Appearance: This is a big deal when purchasing a LED light. Most of us are used to just going and buying any old 65-watt bulb, for example, at the best price. LED bulbs, however, are sold in three different types with color temperatures*.
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1: Warm White - These bulbs will have what we would call a brown hue to them, so they look identical to an incandescent or CFL bulb. If you want to maintain the look you have, then go this route. Many people prefer these, and they are easy to find at any store.
2: Cool White - Cool White is going to be a little more white than the warm but not as bright as daylight. These are nice in almost any situation. You might prefer the whiter light.
3: Bright light or Daylight - These bulbs will be a bright, white light like you see on today's cars. You're going to love it, or hate it; personally, I love it. If you have 8-foot ceilings, you might not like these. Even at 650 lumens, they can be blinding to look at. They work well when used with a lampshade where you don't look directly at them. In ceilings, you might want to use a dimmer. Another catch to the daylight bulbs is that they contain larger amounts of blue light. While the science isn't all there yet, it is believed that blue light in the evening hours can reduce, or even cease, melatonin production in the brain, leading to nighttime insomnia.
* If you want to get even more geeky with it, you will notice a light appearance chart on the box with a number like 5,000 listed. This is the color temperature, and it is another way to describe the light appearance provided by a LED bulb. It is measured in degrees of Kelvin on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000 although most residential bulbs will be in the 2,000 to 6,500 range. Warm white will usually be 2,000-3,000, cool white 3,100 to 4,500 and daylight will be 4,600 to 6,500.
* Speaking of getting geeky, here's one more thing. Another unknown is CRI or color rendering index. Anyone who's used fluorescent bulbs might be familiar with it. CRI is the bulbs ability to accurately render colors. In the case of fluorescent lighting, it took the addition of small amounts of rare earth elements (expensive, and mainly mined in Africa by Chinese companies) to make a high CRI bulb, with high CRI being 85 or above. Since you probably won't know this, you might look up reviews of bulbs and specifically read about how well they light a room.
More detailed specifications as discussed above can often be found on the back, or side, of the package similar to this:
Dimmers: Another mistake I have made. If you purchase a dimmer, be sure it says it supports LED lighting. I purchased a new dimmer this week (big surprise), and they do sell dimmers that say incandescent or CFL only. If you don't get a dimmer that supports LED's, the lights will usually flicker and only dim in a couple of small areas, if at all. And, while I'm no electrician, I worry about fire.
Once again, there's another thing to consider. If you can find the bulb you like, get the dimmable LED even if you won't be using a dimmer. AC line voltage can vary greatly from place to place and can even vary greatly by time of day in certain areas, depending upon the electrical load on the grid. Typical wall socket voltages are 105Vac to 125Vac. If a bulb is designed for 120Vac or even 115Vac, it can consider that lower wall voltage as "dimming" and start acting squirrelly.
Less Waste: You don't have to be a tree-hugger to appreciate the fact that you will be recycling fewer light bulbs. They are difficult to get rid of, many ending up in landfills and as you might know, CFL bulbs are even worse.
That's about it for a LED primer. Always shop for the best life, least use of power and the lumens number and color that fits your needs. If money is tight, replace the most used bulbs in your home first, as they fail, to maximize your savings. If I left anything out, please leave a comment, and I will update as needed.
Ready to start shopping? The best way to buy is to buy a package, usually of 6. Amazon always has good prices.
comments powered by Disqus
Almost all the information you need can be seen typically on the front of most packages.
But, let's take a look at what all of this means.
TIP: Cost and Lifespan: LED bulbs can be expensive, but they pay for themselves and eventually save you money. In the past couple of years, prices have dropped, and they can often be found on sale. On average, a 650 lumen light bulb will use around 10 watts. Using less power can potentially save you $100, or more, over the lifetime of the bulb.
It should be noted that LED bulbs do not just burn out but instead, the light level will drop over time. A rule of thumb is 50% drop in light at 50% of the bulbs rated life. Eventually, your LED bulb will stop working so you'll have plenty of warning that a replacement is due. For this reason, lifespan is very important.
You'll want to understand how they determine a LED lights life. Most LED bulbs will claim a lifespan in the neighborhood of 20 years or 20,000 hours, but that number often is higher. The years (or hours) of a LED bulb lifespan is based on 3 hours of use per day. Factor in daylight savings time and most of you will fall pretty close to the 3 hours a day over the course of a year. If not, then get out your calculator.
So, all LED bulbs are not created equally. Here's an example. Just this week I purchased a 4 foot LED shop light. I saw one on sale at a name brand store for about 40 bucks in a Sunday paper. Just in case, I checked another big box store who had the same size shop light, but it had a 5,000 hour longer life, 200 more lumens and used less power. The price difference? One dollar more. That dollar will be back in my pocket in not time. You can check out that shop light here on Amazon.
Lumens: Lumens is a way to determine how much light a bulb puts out. It works similar to how you're used to buying bulbs by the wattage. A good guideline is 650 lumens is equivalent to 65 watts. Most people will want to be in that range.
LED Light Appearance: This is a big deal when purchasing a LED light. Most of us are used to just going and buying any old 65-watt bulb, for example, at the best price. LED bulbs, however, are sold in three different types with color temperatures*.
1: Warm White - These bulbs will have what we would call a brown hue to them, so they look identical to an incandescent or CFL bulb. If you want to maintain the look you have, then go this route. Many people prefer these, and they are easy to find at any store.
2: Cool White - Cool White is going to be a little more white than the warm but not as bright as daylight. These are nice in almost any situation. You might prefer the whiter light.
3: Bright light or Daylight - These bulbs will be a bright, white light like you see on today's cars. You're going to love it, or hate it; personally, I love it. If you have 8-foot ceilings, you might not like these. Even at 650 lumens, they can be blinding to look at. They work well when used with a lampshade where you don't look directly at them. In ceilings, you might want to use a dimmer. Another catch to the daylight bulbs is that they contain larger amounts of blue light. While the science isn't all there yet, it is believed that blue light in the evening hours can reduce, or even cease, melatonin production in the brain, leading to nighttime insomnia.
* If you want to get even more geeky with it, you will notice a light appearance chart on the box with a number like 5,000 listed. This is the color temperature, and it is another way to describe the light appearance provided by a LED bulb. It is measured in degrees of Kelvin on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000 although most residential bulbs will be in the 2,000 to 6,500 range. Warm white will usually be 2,000-3,000, cool white 3,100 to 4,500 and daylight will be 4,600 to 6,500.
* Speaking of getting geeky, here's one more thing. Another unknown is CRI or color rendering index. Anyone who's used fluorescent bulbs might be familiar with it. CRI is the bulbs ability to accurately render colors. In the case of fluorescent lighting, it took the addition of small amounts of rare earth elements (expensive, and mainly mined in Africa by Chinese companies) to make a high CRI bulb, with high CRI being 85 or above. Since you probably won't know this, you might look up reviews of bulbs and specifically read about how well they light a room.
More detailed specifications as discussed above can often be found on the back, or side, of the package similar to this:
Dimmers: Another mistake I have made. If you purchase a dimmer, be sure it says it supports LED lighting. I purchased a new dimmer this week (big surprise), and they do sell dimmers that say incandescent or CFL only. If you don't get a dimmer that supports LED's, the lights will usually flicker and only dim in a couple of small areas, if at all. And, while I'm no electrician, I worry about fire.
Once again, there's another thing to consider. If you can find the bulb you like, get the dimmable LED even if you won't be using a dimmer. AC line voltage can vary greatly from place to place and can even vary greatly by time of day in certain areas, depending upon the electrical load on the grid. Typical wall socket voltages are 105Vac to 125Vac. If a bulb is designed for 120Vac or even 115Vac, it can consider that lower wall voltage as "dimming" and start acting squirrelly.
Less Waste: You don't have to be a tree-hugger to appreciate the fact that you will be recycling fewer light bulbs. They are difficult to get rid of, many ending up in landfills and as you might know, CFL bulbs are even worse.
That's about it for a LED primer. Always shop for the best life, least use of power and the lumens number and color that fits your needs. If money is tight, replace the most used bulbs in your home first, as they fail, to maximize your savings. If I left anything out, please leave a comment, and I will update as needed.
Ready to start shopping? The best way to buy is to buy a package, usually of 6. Amazon always has good prices.
comments powered by Disqus
