February 5, 2012
Finding Functional LED Lighting Technology For Your Residence And Switching To LED Light Bulbs Saves Money
When LED lamps first released to the market they required specialized bulbs that couldn’t be used in ordinary lamps. Today, you can get LED bulbs that actually work in just about any lighting fixture you own in your home. There are some locations and fixtures that is more appropriate, however.
Inaccessible Locations
Fixtures that are hard to reach or are seldom used may be the best for your first venture into LED usage at home. A LED bulb can last for as long as 100,000 hours, making it hardly possible that you will have to take out a ladder to change bulbs on your vaulted roof again for a very long time. Additionally, if you are uncertain about how you will feel about the more direct lighting style resulting from a LED bulb, this is the best way to try it out.
Spot Lights
The one thing that LED bulbs do very well is to point a light at a particular product. While they may not be ideal yet for diffuse lighting purposes, they really can’t be beat when talking about spot lighting. Whether you select cans or directed fixtures, LED lighting options can accommodate your needs.
Outdoor Functions
As LED bulbs illuminate in no time they are ideal for backyard applications that involve safety lighting. Coming with a number of wireless models, LED motion detector lights can be applied almost anyplace and they use standard batteries that only need to be changed about yearly.
Cities all over the country are applying various funding sources to change out incandescent traffic lights and pedestrian crossing clues and replace them with LED lamps. How much can they expect to save? The average LED bulb spends 80-90% less energy than an incandescent bulb, and whenever you consider the usage at city scale, that adds up.
Tucson, Arizona is in the planning stage of making the change and expects to see savings of approximately $50,000 in the first year alone - and so far they have barely implemented the change in the nearby downtown area.
Denny’s Leading the Movement
The restaurant chain Denny’s has made LED light bulbs corporate policy and all the franchises are following the change. In Colorado Springs, Colorado a Denny’s franchisee that had the change in five locations cites a $15,500 reduction in his yearly energy expenses. And, in case you think Denny’s is the only one on the group, Chili’s has announced that they are changing over too.
More Factors
While the financial stimulation is clearly significant, there are even more good reasons to make the swap. Switching to LEDs lowers the carbon emissions directed by lighting needs. Fairview, Texas recently began a new street lit entirely by LED light bulbs and presumes to create a thousand pounds less carbon per year with just those 82 bulbs. The listing of cities joining the LED City program is expanding.
Mercury Issues
The other widespread replacement for incandescent bulbs is CFL. CFL bulbs, unfortunately, consist of mercury. In fact, the mercury in just one CFL bulb is sufficient to poison 1000 gallons of water. Keep in mind that few states have security protocols in place in terms of the disposal of CFL bulbs and the potential for devastating ecological damage is clear. LED light bulbs contain no mercury by any means, and since they last so long, they reduce the volume of material going to landfills as well.
The benefit of switching to LED lamps is obvious from many perspectives. Fortunately, the buying price of such bulbs is dropping and they are dramatically approaching the price point where they will be inexpensive for use throughout the home also.
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