LED lighting is a great energy efficiency measure, but technology also has many decorative applications. Older lamp types are limited to a single color of light, while LED lamps can be designed with adjustable color output. Also, LED products are available in dimmable versions, while many conventional bulbs can only be used at full brightness.
LED lighting is often considered expensive, but this only applies to upfront costs. When you consider the energy savings and the long service life of the technology, it achieves a lower ownership cost than older lamp types. The additional cost of LED lighting is recovered many times as energy and maintenance savings in the long run.
Decorative Applications Of LED Lighting
The small size of LEDs allows a wide variety of lamp designs. Consider that incandescent, fluorescent, and HID lamps use large bulbs, and this limits possibilities for designers. On the other hand, LEDs are small enough to be arranged in any shape, and the lamp designs possible are only limited by imagination. As a result, you will find that decorative LED lamps are available in configurations that would be impossible with light bulbs.
Interior designers often prefer incandescent lamps since their glass bulbs, and filaments have an antique appearance. However, there are LED lamps that mimic the appearance of older light bulbs, while only having a fraction of their energy consumption.
As previously mentioned, some LED lamps have an adjustable color output and brightness. When these are combined with automatic controls, a single lighting system can perform multiple functions.
- For example, the lighting system can assume a neutral white color and full brightness for activities like cooking and reading. Then, if you want to watch a movie, the lighting system can lower its intensity and switch to a warmer tone of light.
- Smart lighting systems can store these configurations as “scenes,” and you can switch them with the press of a button.
Economic Advantages Of LED Lighting
Depending on the lamps being upgraded, the energy savings of LED lighting can range from 30% to 90%. For example, a 9W LED bulb can produce the same amount of light as a 15W compact fluorescent light or a 60W incandescent bulb. In this case, the energy savings are 40% for fluorescent lighting and 85% for bright lighting.
However, the savings with LED lighting do not end with energy efficiency. LEDs provide a much longer service life than the lamps they replace, leading to fewer replacements in the long run. For instance, an incandescent bulb that lasts 1,000 hours can be replaced with an LED version that lasts 25,000 hours. An LED lamp is more expensive than a single incandescent bulb but much cheaper than 25 of them.
Additional energy savings are achieved when LED lighting is used in areas with air conditioning. Since LED lights release less heat than older lamp types, the cooling load is also decreased. The difference may not be much if only one lamp is considered, but a large building may have thousands of them.
To make sure LED lighting delivers its benefits, protecting your investment is very important. A professional inspection by an electrical engineering firm is strongly recommended to make sure your wiring and circuit breakers are in good condition.
