LED lights: The Future to Home and Outdoor lighting is here
History and introduction of LED lightings
LEDÂ’s have been around since the 60s, but have mostly been
relegated to showing the time in an alarm clock or the battery level of a video
camera. Its use as a source of illumination was a challenging one for
scientists. Light Emitting Diodes or LED Lightings- differ
from traditional light sources in the way they produce light. Â In incandescent bulbs, a tungsten filament is heated by electric
current until it glows or emits light. In a fluorescent lamp, an electric arc
excites mercury atoms, which emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation. After striking
the phosphor coating on the inside of glass tubes, the UV radiation is
converted and emitted as visible light. On other hand LEDÂ’s are diodes
made from semi-conductor materials. This is why they are referred to as
“solid state” devices and relies on indium gallium nitride to convert
electricity into photons with help of direct current (DC) instead of
alternating current (AC) There are other types of Lights which on the principle
of solid state objects like semi conductor but LED’s are the most relevant for
general illumination. It consists of a chip of semi-conducting material treated
to create an electric circuit. An LED is usually a small area source, often
with extra optics added to the chip that shapes its radiation pattern. The specific wavelength or color emitted by the LED depends on the
materials used to make the diode. It depends on the composition and
condition of the semi conducting material used, and can be infrared,
visible,
or near-ultraviolet.
Red LEDÂ’s are based on aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs).
Blue LEDÂ’s are made from indium gallium nitride (InGaN) and green from aluminum
gallium phosphide (AlGaP). “White” light is created by combining the
light from red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDÂ’s or by coating a blue LED with
yellow phosphor. LED based lights are still under development but it is
predicted it will radically change the energy consumption patterns of the world
over the next few years. As such there’s a phenomenal amount of resources
being devoted to improving LED technology worldwide. The U.S. has
committed an uncharacteristically large amount of industrial policy support for
LED research and development. Asia is a hotbed of cutting-edge
manufacturing technology and Europe and Canada have led the way in energy
efficient initiatives accompanied by some of some of the most innovative design
styles you can find anywhere.
Advantages and disadvantages of LED lightings
 They have extremely low power consumption. LED lights use up
to 90% less power than normal lights, which has many more advantages than you
would ever assume. Firstly electrical running costs are reduced, not only
reducing the demand placed on your household energy consumption but feel good
knowing you are saving energy and becoming green, the global warming factor. Along
the same line, the other major advantage of LED lights is that you can connect multiple sets of
LED lights together from only one plug or socket, more sets
than non LED lights due to the lower power consumption. This is not
only practical resulting in the requirement for less power sockets, but you can
lit larger multiple area with little drilling of your walls. Just imagine
powering a string of lights ½ mile long from a single electrical socket.Â
With LEDÂ’s you can use more light than ever before and still save money. While
the small energy draw of LEDÂ’s would indicate many more could be strung
together, until the UL listing is changed for the standard plug connected light
sets, it is prudent to adhere to the current regulations for risk management.
Since LED lights donÂ’t contain any energy hungry materials, they are very
efficacious-convert energy to light, not heat as non LEDÂ’s lights do. These
make them intrinsically safe and are generally cool to the touch. LED’s
lights can provide with 50,000 hours or more of life, which can tremendously
reduce maintenance costs and time. This means, assuming an average twelve
hour night, you will not need to change your LED lights after a good eleven
year. In comparison, an incandescent light bulb lasts approximately 1,000
hours. Â Â Fluorescents are rated for 10,000 hours under ideal
conditions. Along with this LED lights are incredibly bright, 3 times brighter than
traditional lights, this makes them ideal for a wide range of
situations, offering much greater impact and appeal than subdued traditional
bulbs. The known problem of replacing blown and the inconvenience and undesired
appearance of multiple failed bulbs isn’t an issue with LED’s. With such a long
bulb life you can be sure of a fully functioning set of lights, which can be
happily left outside requiring no maintenance and minimal routine care. Further
mentioning the longevity of LED lights, LEDÂ’s are manufactured as one solid
piece, with no glass or filaments to break. As such these lights are resistant
to shock and vibration, which makes them more durable than non LED lights. Plus
they have better quality light output since
they have minimum ultraviolet and infrared radiation. LED lights have much greater design freedom in terms of color flexibility including
many “whites” – without the use of filters, fully dimmable, new form factors
for fixture designs which give us innumerable options to look for. Â Lastly the
most important benefits if you are environment conscious is LEDÂ’s unlike Fluorescent
and mercury vapor lighting which contains mercury, a  hazardous waste to the environment and must be
disposed of properly, LEDÂ’s donÂ’t contain mercury and are not considered
hazardous waste designating them environmental friendly.
 What to know before buying LED lightings
 LED lights have started flooding the market but before
purchase see to it what are you looking for. LED lights were initially started
to be used in commercial environments like entertainment shows, theaters etc.
Also, LED lights are already the best light source for traffic signals,
vehicular tail lights, emergency lighting and flashlights. Increasingly
nowadays, Home LED lightings such as accent wall LED lights, task, landscape and
even outdoor LED lightings such as garden Pole LED lightings have arrived in the
market. After deciding upon the type of LED lighting, check the prices around
various online shop. Price is a hard thing to remain constant since most
companies post retail type prices online and are willing to accept your bargain
call for bulk purchases. Your best bet is to have a specific LED lighting type
in mind and browse through several LED light shop. Check the kind of warranties
the selected shop is giving you in terms of lamp life span and durability of
LED lights. The light output declines over time so at some point, though the
lamp is technically lit, it is not providing the same effect as intended in the
beginning. Market pitching shop owner will seem to claim very high lamp life,
while more honest LED shop will opt for the lower numbers. A reasonable lamp
life for most LEDÂ’s seen in the market is around 50,000 hours but if it is more
see what kind of warranties and return policy is in place if the claim is not
fulfilled by the seller.
As we can see LED lightings have so many benefits compared
to other form of lightings that sooner or later its usage will be common. More
widespread use could lead to big energy savings and a revolution in the way we
think about lighting. And We at For your Home would be part of these
revolution, would you like to join?
You can also read this article in our news and article
section at;
http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/led-lightings-lighting-revolution-on-the-way/articles/36.html
Authur Information:
We at For your Home are specialist in helping you make
better homes and gardens. You are always welcome to visit our online store at
http://www.foryourhome.co.uk and our Home and outdoor LED lighting section at
http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/home-led-lighting/c/373_475.html
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