Even though LED light bulbs are currently more expensive to purchase than regular incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs, LED lighting fixtures will save you money in long-term operational costs. LED home lighting only uses one third of the energy than what an incandescent bulb uses. An 18-watt LED light can replace a 75-watt incandescent bulb, and in the lifetime of that 18-watt LED light bulb (which is a lot longer than that of the incandescent light bulb) you will save about 570 kilowatts of energy. This reduction in kilowatts used will also mean a large reduction in the price of your energy bill. Investing in LED light bulbs at the beginning will pay off in the long-run. Therefore it is advantageous to pay more at the beginning for a LED light bulb but save a lot more money for electricity costs in the future.
Saving money with LED lights in your home is an easy way to be more environmentally conscious and will not dramatically change your living style, especially because you will most likely not be able to tell the difference in the lighting. The only difference will be that you will receive the same amount of lighting or even better lighting for less energy used and more efficient costs. In addition, LED light bulbs last a lot longer than regular light bulbs, which will save you from buying more replacement light bulbs, thus saving you time and money. Therefore, save money on lighting costs today by switching to LED light bulbs.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Energy Efficiently Saving The Environment
Even just replacing one regular light bulb with a LED light bulb in your home can make a difference and a small contribution to improving the environment. Changing one incandescent light bulb to a LED light can also help you save money since LED lights last 10 times longer than a regular incandescent bulb and are four times more efficient. Therefore, LED lighting uses nearly 80 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb does, which will also mean ultimately less environmental pollution created.
Regular light bulbs are perilous to the environment because it can emit carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide into the atmosphere and add nuclear waste into the landfills. By exchanging your light bulbs to just one low energy LED light bulb, half a ton of carbon dioxide can be prevented from being dispersed into the atmosphere throughout its life cycle. Staying conscious about the environment and being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean you have to change the way you live completely, and using LED light bulbs is just a small way to make a positive impact on the environment. Thus, with LED lighting, you can increase your energy efficiency with small and simple changes that will actually benefit you as well as the environment.
LED lighting is an advantageous long-term solution to save energy and money for your home and outdoor lighting needs. The energy efficiency and environmental friendly qualities makes it worthwhile for your household and the world to convert your lighting options to LED lighting. Switching out light bulbs to LED light bulbs will in the long run save the environment.
Regular light bulbs are perilous to the environment because it can emit carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide into the atmosphere and add nuclear waste into the landfills. By exchanging your light bulbs to just one low energy LED light bulb, half a ton of carbon dioxide can be prevented from being dispersed into the atmosphere throughout its life cycle. Staying conscious about the environment and being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean you have to change the way you live completely, and using LED light bulbs is just a small way to make a positive impact on the environment. Thus, with LED lighting, you can increase your energy efficiency with small and simple changes that will actually benefit you as well as the environment.
LED lighting is an advantageous long-term solution to save energy and money for your home and outdoor lighting needs. The energy efficiency and environmental friendly qualities makes it worthwhile for your household and the world to convert your lighting options to LED lighting. Switching out light bulbs to LED light bulbs will in the long run save the environment.
LED Light Bulb VS Incandescent Light Bulb
LED lighting has several advantages over conventional incandescent lighting options. First of all, they do not have a filament that will burn out, so they will last much longer. In addition, since LED lights do not have the fragile filament and tube to contend with, they are thus more resistant to heat, cold, and shock. Additionally, their small plastic bulb makes them a lot more durable. They also fit more easily into modern electronic circuits.
LED light bulbs can operate for 30,000 hours or more. One led light bulb can easily outlast 30 incandescent bulbs, or 6 compact fluorescents. LED light bulbs thus cost less than the bulbs they replace if they’re long-run cost saving effects are considered. In addition, even when operated 8 hours per day, LED light bulbs can still last up to 10 years or more.
LED light bulbs are less sensitive to shock, vibration, and the extreme temperature changes, which typically can quickly ruin fragile incandescent bulbs. Therefore, unlike fluorescent bulbs which wear out much faster if they are frequently turned on and off, LED bulbs are not affected by the frequent power switches.
According to The Christian Science Monitor, LED lamps produce “nearly 200 times more useful light than a kerosene lamp and almost 50 times the amount of useful light of a conventional bulb.” LED light bulbs possess extremely long life spans, making them more economical to operate over their span of operation because they need to be changed a lot less frequently, and LEDs can provide a more pleasant spectrum of light than regular light bulbs do. In conclusion, the long life of LED light bulbs will reduce the time, effort and cost of replacement, and is a better investment than regular incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs.
LED light bulbs can operate for 30,000 hours or more. One led light bulb can easily outlast 30 incandescent bulbs, or 6 compact fluorescents. LED light bulbs thus cost less than the bulbs they replace if they’re long-run cost saving effects are considered. In addition, even when operated 8 hours per day, LED light bulbs can still last up to 10 years or more.
LED light bulbs are less sensitive to shock, vibration, and the extreme temperature changes, which typically can quickly ruin fragile incandescent bulbs. Therefore, unlike fluorescent bulbs which wear out much faster if they are frequently turned on and off, LED bulbs are not affected by the frequent power switches.
According to The Christian Science Monitor, LED lamps produce “nearly 200 times more useful light than a kerosene lamp and almost 50 times the amount of useful light of a conventional bulb.” LED light bulbs possess extremely long life spans, making them more economical to operate over their span of operation because they need to be changed a lot less frequently, and LEDs can provide a more pleasant spectrum of light than regular light bulbs do. In conclusion, the long life of LED light bulbs will reduce the time, effort and cost of replacement, and is a better investment than regular incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs.
Less Pollution With LED Light Bulbs
If every household in the United States switches to LED lighting, statistics show that approximately 90 current power plants can shut down, which is important to consider since more power plants are being planned and constructed as we use and waste more energy every day by using regular light bulbs. By having more power plants shut down, the environment will accumulate less pollution.
Most electricity is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels at these power plants. Every time you turn on the lights, you create some pollution. However, just by turning off your power switch at home does not mean that you will be saving the environment since the power plants are still running in order to power that lighting when you turn it on again. One of the quickest ways to reduce coal emissions by 50% is to reduce our electricity consumption by 50%. Fortunately, LED lighting can provide a solution to this problem, and even though it might take time for everyone to adapt to LED light bulbs, it will be worth it in the long run for reducing pollution from coal emissions.
Compact florescent bulbs lights contain mercury and must be treated as hazardous waste. LED lighting contains no mercury or other dangerous substances, and because they are mercury-free, disposal or breakage is not a problem, and will reduce polluting the environment and landfills.
If every American Home changed out just five high-use light bulbs, each household would save more than $60 every year in energy costs and more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gasses would be kept out of the air – equal to the emissions of 8 million cars.
Most electricity is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels at these power plants. Every time you turn on the lights, you create some pollution. However, just by turning off your power switch at home does not mean that you will be saving the environment since the power plants are still running in order to power that lighting when you turn it on again. One of the quickest ways to reduce coal emissions by 50% is to reduce our electricity consumption by 50%. Fortunately, LED lighting can provide a solution to this problem, and even though it might take time for everyone to adapt to LED light bulbs, it will be worth it in the long run for reducing pollution from coal emissions.
Compact florescent bulbs lights contain mercury and must be treated as hazardous waste. LED lighting contains no mercury or other dangerous substances, and because they are mercury-free, disposal or breakage is not a problem, and will reduce polluting the environment and landfills.
If every American Home changed out just five high-use light bulbs, each household would save more than $60 every year in energy costs and more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gasses would be kept out of the air – equal to the emissions of 8 million cars.
LED Light and Energy Efficiency
The lighting efficiency of the high power LED light bulbs is more than eight times that of incandescent lights, and twice as high as compact fluorescent lights. LED bulbs also emit a much higher percentage of light in the desired direction. This makes them an even more efficient alternative to incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs for task lighting, desk lamps, reading lights, spotlights, flood lights, and track lighting.
LED light benefits expand to areas other than home lighting as well. For example, the efficient energy qualities of LED light bulbs, with their brighter light and longer life, have already replaced standard bulbs in many of the nation’s traffic lights. In addition, considering using LED lights during the Christmas holiday is also a smart energy conservation idea. This is because LED lights use 90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and 75 percent less than the mini-lights used for holiday decorations. LED lights are also cooler in temperature and energy efficient during the time of year when energy use rises significantly, so using LED lighting the summer time will be highly beneficial. LED lanterns and LED flashlights are also great for camping and hunting as well as a vital part of any home emergency kit.
With LED lighting implementations your family will not need to worry about batteries running out in the middle of use because LED flashlights and LED lanterns use less energy meaning your standard batteries will last considerably longer. LED light bulbs also generate very little unwanted heat. Thus energy savings may be doubled for your air conditioning and other utility costs since each watt of incandescent lighting can add another watt or more to the power needed for air conditioning and other power related activities.
LED light benefits expand to areas other than home lighting as well. For example, the efficient energy qualities of LED light bulbs, with their brighter light and longer life, have already replaced standard bulbs in many of the nation’s traffic lights. In addition, considering using LED lights during the Christmas holiday is also a smart energy conservation idea. This is because LED lights use 90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and 75 percent less than the mini-lights used for holiday decorations. LED lights are also cooler in temperature and energy efficient during the time of year when energy use rises significantly, so using LED lighting the summer time will be highly beneficial. LED lanterns and LED flashlights are also great for camping and hunting as well as a vital part of any home emergency kit.
With LED lighting implementations your family will not need to worry about batteries running out in the middle of use because LED flashlights and LED lanterns use less energy meaning your standard batteries will last considerably longer. LED light bulbs also generate very little unwanted heat. Thus energy savings may be doubled for your air conditioning and other utility costs since each watt of incandescent lighting can add another watt or more to the power needed for air conditioning and other power related activities.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Best Energy Efficient Lighting Tips
CFL: The better bulb
Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs) are those swirley little guys that look like soft-serve ice cream cones. Actually, they come in a myriad of different shapes, sizes, and colors of light. Economically speaking, they’re a great deal, too. CFLs cost a bit more than an incandescent, but use about a quarter as much energy and last many times longer (usually around 10,000 hours). It is estimated that a CFL pays for its higher price after about 500 hours of use. After that, it’s money in your pocket. Also, because CFLs release less heat, not only are they safer, but your cooling load is less in the summer. CFLs aren’t hard to find anymore, and many cities will give them away for free. Wal-Mart has plans to sell 100 million of them.
Get the LEDs out
LEDs are a definite TreeHugger favorite. LEDs, or light emitting diodes, are a technology that allows for extremely energy efficient and extremely long-lasting light bulbs. LEDs are just starting to hit the consumer market in a big (read affordable) way and still cost quite a bit more than even CFLs, but use even less energy and last even longer. An LED light bulb can reduce energy consumption by 80-90% and last around 100,000 hours. They even light up faster than regular bulbs (which could save your life it there are LEDs in the brake lights of your car). They are almost always more expensive presently, but we have seen the cost go down steadily. It’s no coincidence that the Millennium Technology Prize went to the inventor of the LED.
Most LED lamps on the market have the bulbs built into them, so you buy the whole unit. For screw-in bulbs, check out Ledtronics, Mule, and Enlux. For desk lamps, check out a few affordable ones from Sylvania and Koncept. For more designer models, look at LEDs from Herman Miller and Knoll. Vessel rechargeable accent lamps represent some of the interesting new things LEDs can do as well.
Materials
Light isn’t all about the bulbs, though. Having eco-friendly lamps and light fixtures is key to greening your lighting. When scouting for new gear, keep your eyes out for lamps made with natural, recycled, or reused materials. Lights made from recycled materials include metal, glass, or plastic, and natural materials can include felt, cloth or wood. Interesting lamps that use reclaimed materials include these made from traffic signal lenses, and these made from wine bottles.
Disposabulb
Fluorescents last a long time, but when they’re dead, they have to be properly disposed of. CFLs, like all florescent bulbs, do contain a small amount of mercury, which means they definitely can’t be thrown in the trash. Every city has different services for recycling, so you’ll need to see what’s offered in your area. LEDs, to our knowledge, do not contain mercury, but the jury may still be out on how to best recycle them.
Wall warts
Power adaptors, or “wall warts” as they’re affectionately called, are those clunky things you find on many electrical cords, including those attached to lamps and some light fixtures. You’ll notice that they stay warm even when their device is turned off. This is because they in fact draw energy from the wall all the time. One way to green your lighting is to unplug their wall warts when not in use, attached lights to a power strip and turn off the whole switch when not in use, or get your hands on a “smart” power strip that knows when the devise is off.
Daylighting
By far, the best source of light we know is (yes, you guessed it) the sun, which gives off free, full-spectrum light all day. Make the most of daylight by keeping your blinds open (sounds obvious but you might be surprised). If you want to go a little farther, put in some skylights, or, of you are designing a home or doing a renovation, put as many windows on the south-facing side of the house as possible (or north-facing if you live in the southern hemisphere). To take it even further, sunlight can be “piped” inside via fiber optics and other light channeling technologies.
Good habits
As efficient as your lighting equipment might be, it doesn’t make sense to have lights on when no one’s around. Turn out lights in rooms or parts of the house where no one is. Teach your family and friends about it too and it will become second nature. If you want to get a little more exact, follow these rules:
Standard incandescent: turn off even if you leave the room for just seconds. Compact fluorescent: turn off if you leave the room for 3 minutes. Standard fluorescent: turn off if you leave the room for 15 minutes.
Do-It-Yourself
We’re always encouraging people to take matters into their own hands. So much great eco-innovation comes when people create the things they can’t find elsewhere. Lighting is an especially accessible and rewarding thing to tackle. For some inspiration, check out the Cholesterol lamp made from cast-off plastic egg cartons, and the recycled Tube Light. Strawbale building pioneer Glen Hunter made some LED fixtures when he couldn’t find any he liked on the market. Eurolite, the company from which he bought the lighting components, liked his designs so much they decided to sell them.
Dimmers and motion sensors
Motion sensors can be a good way to keep lights turned off when they’re not needed, and dimmers can give you just the right amount of life, and timers can be set to turn things on and off when needed.
Get green power
A great way to green your lighting is to buy green power. More and more electric utilities are offering customers a green power option on their bill. Signing up for green power usually means paying a few more dollars a month to support energy in the grid that comes from renewable sources like wind, solar, or biogas. For some more info on how to get green juice, look here, and for the greenest grids in the States, look here. More info is also available in How to Green Your Electricity.
Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs) are those swirley little guys that look like soft-serve ice cream cones. Actually, they come in a myriad of different shapes, sizes, and colors of light. Economically speaking, they’re a great deal, too. CFLs cost a bit more than an incandescent, but use about a quarter as much energy and last many times longer (usually around 10,000 hours). It is estimated that a CFL pays for its higher price after about 500 hours of use. After that, it’s money in your pocket. Also, because CFLs release less heat, not only are they safer, but your cooling load is less in the summer. CFLs aren’t hard to find anymore, and many cities will give them away for free. Wal-Mart has plans to sell 100 million of them.
Get the LEDs out
LEDs are a definite TreeHugger favorite. LEDs, or light emitting diodes, are a technology that allows for extremely energy efficient and extremely long-lasting light bulbs. LEDs are just starting to hit the consumer market in a big (read affordable) way and still cost quite a bit more than even CFLs, but use even less energy and last even longer. An LED light bulb can reduce energy consumption by 80-90% and last around 100,000 hours. They even light up faster than regular bulbs (which could save your life it there are LEDs in the brake lights of your car). They are almost always more expensive presently, but we have seen the cost go down steadily. It’s no coincidence that the Millennium Technology Prize went to the inventor of the LED.
Most LED lamps on the market have the bulbs built into them, so you buy the whole unit. For screw-in bulbs, check out Ledtronics, Mule, and Enlux. For desk lamps, check out a few affordable ones from Sylvania and Koncept. For more designer models, look at LEDs from Herman Miller and Knoll. Vessel rechargeable accent lamps represent some of the interesting new things LEDs can do as well.
Materials
Light isn’t all about the bulbs, though. Having eco-friendly lamps and light fixtures is key to greening your lighting. When scouting for new gear, keep your eyes out for lamps made with natural, recycled, or reused materials. Lights made from recycled materials include metal, glass, or plastic, and natural materials can include felt, cloth or wood. Interesting lamps that use reclaimed materials include these made from traffic signal lenses, and these made from wine bottles.
Disposabulb
Fluorescents last a long time, but when they’re dead, they have to be properly disposed of. CFLs, like all florescent bulbs, do contain a small amount of mercury, which means they definitely can’t be thrown in the trash. Every city has different services for recycling, so you’ll need to see what’s offered in your area. LEDs, to our knowledge, do not contain mercury, but the jury may still be out on how to best recycle them.
Wall warts
Power adaptors, or “wall warts” as they’re affectionately called, are those clunky things you find on many electrical cords, including those attached to lamps and some light fixtures. You’ll notice that they stay warm even when their device is turned off. This is because they in fact draw energy from the wall all the time. One way to green your lighting is to unplug their wall warts when not in use, attached lights to a power strip and turn off the whole switch when not in use, or get your hands on a “smart” power strip that knows when the devise is off.
Daylighting
By far, the best source of light we know is (yes, you guessed it) the sun, which gives off free, full-spectrum light all day. Make the most of daylight by keeping your blinds open (sounds obvious but you might be surprised). If you want to go a little farther, put in some skylights, or, of you are designing a home or doing a renovation, put as many windows on the south-facing side of the house as possible (or north-facing if you live in the southern hemisphere). To take it even further, sunlight can be “piped” inside via fiber optics and other light channeling technologies.
Good habits
As efficient as your lighting equipment might be, it doesn’t make sense to have lights on when no one’s around. Turn out lights in rooms or parts of the house where no one is. Teach your family and friends about it too and it will become second nature. If you want to get a little more exact, follow these rules:
Standard incandescent: turn off even if you leave the room for just seconds. Compact fluorescent: turn off if you leave the room for 3 minutes. Standard fluorescent: turn off if you leave the room for 15 minutes.
Do-It-Yourself
We’re always encouraging people to take matters into their own hands. So much great eco-innovation comes when people create the things they can’t find elsewhere. Lighting is an especially accessible and rewarding thing to tackle. For some inspiration, check out the Cholesterol lamp made from cast-off plastic egg cartons, and the recycled Tube Light. Strawbale building pioneer Glen Hunter made some LED fixtures when he couldn’t find any he liked on the market. Eurolite, the company from which he bought the lighting components, liked his designs so much they decided to sell them.
Dimmers and motion sensors
Motion sensors can be a good way to keep lights turned off when they’re not needed, and dimmers can give you just the right amount of life, and timers can be set to turn things on and off when needed.
Get green power
A great way to green your lighting is to buy green power. More and more electric utilities are offering customers a green power option on their bill. Signing up for green power usually means paying a few more dollars a month to support energy in the grid that comes from renewable sources like wind, solar, or biogas. For some more info on how to get green juice, look here, and for the greenest grids in the States, look here. More info is also available in How to Green Your Electricity.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Benefits of LED Lighting and Energy Efficient Lighting
The benefits of LED lighting is still not so clear to many people. Here we want to break down and get a closer look of how an LED light bulb can not only save money, but also save make the world a better place.
LED stands for light-emitting diode which is a semiconductor chip that emits light when conducting current. LED bulbs can produce any spectrum of light which make it very universal and able to use in nearly any application. It is used in many households, whether room or kitchen, offices, landscapes and even traffic lights. The use of LED lighting has increased rapidly since the beginning of the century and is now in mass production.
It is almost safe to say that an LED light can last forever. It has over a 50,000 hour lifespan, which means 2083 days, a minimum of 6 years of energy efficient lighting if you never turn it off. In the same amount of time, you would have used 50 regular incandescent light bulbs. Basically, by paying a few extra dollars more for LED lighting, you would not only save over $400 on future lighting, you would also save at least 70% on your next electricity bill.
Let's take a closer look at the benefits of LED lighting:
A regular incandescent bulb, running on 12 hours per day, will cost about $40 a year. Since these light bulbs only run for about 1000 hours you might at least need to buy about 4 more bulbs that same year, bringing your total cost of one light fixture to about $60.
Now, let's take a look at our Alcon Lighting LED light bulb:
If we run our energy efficient light bulb for just about 12 hours per day for one whole year, our electricity bill would be around $5. Since it has then been on for just about 4000 hours, it still has another 10 whole years of lighting to go! With our not so energy efficient incandescent bulb, this illumination would cost us around $600.
Clearly, an LED light bulb is a great investment, not only with the goal to keep our wallets fuller, but also to make the world a better place, one light bulb at a time. You have to mean it when you green it.
For more information on energy efficient lighting visit Alconlighting.com.
LED stands for light-emitting diode which is a semiconductor chip that emits light when conducting current. LED bulbs can produce any spectrum of light which make it very universal and able to use in nearly any application. It is used in many households, whether room or kitchen, offices, landscapes and even traffic lights. The use of LED lighting has increased rapidly since the beginning of the century and is now in mass production.
It is almost safe to say that an LED light can last forever. It has over a 50,000 hour lifespan, which means 2083 days, a minimum of 6 years of energy efficient lighting if you never turn it off. In the same amount of time, you would have used 50 regular incandescent light bulbs. Basically, by paying a few extra dollars more for LED lighting, you would not only save over $400 on future lighting, you would also save at least 70% on your next electricity bill.
Let's take a closer look at the benefits of LED lighting:
A regular incandescent bulb, running on 12 hours per day, will cost about $40 a year. Since these light bulbs only run for about 1000 hours you might at least need to buy about 4 more bulbs that same year, bringing your total cost of one light fixture to about $60.
Now, let's take a look at our Alcon Lighting LED light bulb:
If we run our energy efficient light bulb for just about 12 hours per day for one whole year, our electricity bill would be around $5. Since it has then been on for just about 4000 hours, it still has another 10 whole years of lighting to go! With our not so energy efficient incandescent bulb, this illumination would cost us around $600.
Clearly, an LED light bulb is a great investment, not only with the goal to keep our wallets fuller, but also to make the world a better place, one light bulb at a time. You have to mean it when you green it.
For more information on energy efficient lighting visit Alconlighting.com.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Energy Efficient Lighting Company
Being energy efficient is becoming more and more of a trend and many people are making better choices by switching to LED Lighting, which saves energy and money. But how do you know which LED Lights to buy how does it save you money? At Alcon Lighting, we help our customers go green, choose the most suitable energy efficient lighting and explain to them how these choices are much more beneficial.
At Alconlighting.com, people can view and purchase any kind of light bulbs in LED format. Whether it's an underwater pool light, under cabinet LED lighting, LED landscape lighting or simple LED office or room lighting, you name it, we have it all. Alcon Lighting not only has all energy efficient lighting you need but they also come in great designs and shapes to fill any interior or exterior space. But why switch to LED lighting and how is energy efficient lights going to benefit us? With energy efficient lighting, like LED lights, we save money and save energy by using long lasting, less electricity consuming lighting to not only save the environment, but also save our money.
LED Lighting has been in development since the 1960's but just recently has been used as the primary lighting source in many home and businesses. An LED light bulb is long term, environmental friendly, and more efficient than a regular, incandescent light bulb. In short, one Alcon Lighting LED light can last 50,000 hours, which is equivalent to 50 regular light bulbs. An Alcon Lighting LED light may also just use 10 watts of electricity or less to produce the same amount of illumination as an incandescent light bulb, which may use up to 100 watts of electricity.
Alcon Lighting not only has the best prices on energy efficient light bulbs, but also happens to carry all lighting and electrical supplies you need, for unbeatable prices. From lamp holders and wires to bulb frames in great designs and shapes, most which carry a lifetime warranty, as well as transformers, fans and ventilation, light fixtures, safety and security products and much more. Alcon Lightings customer service representatives can walk your through any questions and give you any information you need to help you switch to energy efficient lighting and save money while going green. Or us Jake H., the founder would say: "Mean it when you green it.".
Visit Alcon Lighting in Los Angeles or shop online at for LED lighting and electrical supplies at Alconlighting.com.
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