How LED bulbs works

If you are eager to save  money and the environment, you need to take interest in LED bulbs because they're even more energy efficient and environmentally safe than CFL and incandescent bulbs. Many LED bulbs also have unique designs that loosely resemble traditional incandescent bulbs but have embellishments around the bulb itself.

More Light, Less Heat

Light-emitting diodes (LED) are semiconductors. As electrons pass through this type of semiconductor, it turns into light. Compared to incandescent and CFL bulbs, LED bulbs  are more efficient at turning energy into light. Therefore, less of the energy radiates from the bulb as heat. This is why LED bulbs are cooler during operation than incandescent and CFL bulbs.

As the light-emitting diodes create light, they warm up quite a bit for their size. LEDs are heat sensitive, so it's important that the heat move away so that it doesn't damage the semiconductors. In order to do this, these lights need a system to keep cool. Most LED lights have a heat sink plate that moves the heat away from the light-emitting diodes through the heat sink plate. Manufacturers make the heat sink plate out of a variety of materials, but it's commonly made from aluminum. Frequently, the heat sink becomes part of the design of the bulb.

An LED light bulb's heat sink usually weighs several ounces and can become hot once you turn on the light. From the heat sink plate, the heat moves into the air surrounding the bulb. If you place the bulb in an enclosed fixture, it keeps the heat from effectively moving away from the heat sink, raising the temperature around the light-emitting diodes. This, in turn, causes the LEDs to overheat, shortening the life of the bulb.

Directional Light

Many LED bulbs have light-emitting diodes that all shine in one direction. This results in a bulb that directs most of its light toward the top of the bulb. If you place this type of bulb in a table lamp, you can see that most of the light ends up on the ceiling with very little refracted onto the table. In an attempt to make LED bulbs more like incandescent bulbs, omni-directional LED lighting is becoming more common. This lighting distributes the light evenly around the bulb. Commonly, it's done by bouncing the light off reflective plates inside the bulb.

An Aging Bulb

As LED light bulbs get older, they don't just burn out. Instead, they grow dimmer. The industry standard for LED light bulbs is that they should last for at least 25,000 hours with at least 70 percent as much brightness as they have when they are new. Below 70 percent is the point at which the industry decided the decrease in brightness is noticeable.

LED light bulbs are relatively new on the market, so they haven't been through the test of time – especially those that boast a lifespan of 50,000 hours. Although most of these lights last for about 25,000 hours, their warranties only cover about three years. This is perhaps because if you run the LED lamp continuously, it will only stay within the 70 percent range for a little less than three years. However, if you look on the Lighting Facts label of many LED lamps, it gives a life based on years. This is because the industry standard is three hours of use per day instead of 24 hours..

Drop your comments and your questions please

LED Drivers

LED drivers provide a constant current to the diodes.  This is the major component of LED bulbs .  Customers look at a light bulb to see how bright it is or its color, and compare that to their current products.  Truly, quality  of an LED bulb can not be seen easily. the LED drivers has a lot to say about the quality of the LED

Poorly designed drivers cost much less, but won’t last 10,000 hours, let alone 50,000+ hours.  Early on, LED drivers weren’t dimmable and some still aren’t, but continued progression in this side of the industry continues to improve LED performance and longevity.

LED lighting will continue to improve and evolve over time. 

More on this soon

Going Green with LED bulb

LED lighting is probably the easiest way to ‘go green’ for your household.  Just buy purchasing a few light bulbs you can make an impact.  A 100 watt light incandescent bulb being used for a few hours per day emits over 100kg of CO2 during one year alone.  Now, expand that out to all the light bulbs in your house – you’ll be surprised how many you have.  You can cut the CO2 emissions down about 80% just by taking the simple steps of changing a light bulb.

Not only does changing a light bulb help Mother Nature, it also helps your wallet.  By making the simple investment in a  LED bulb, you save over NGN16,000($100) per bulb over the life of the bulb.  Multiply that by the 25 bulbs in your house and you save well over NGN 400,000 ($2,500) over the life of your bulbs!

Saving money just got easier.  So did going green.  It’s as easy as changing a light bulb.  Any one can go green.

How to choose LED bulbs to meet your need

Some people are confused on how to correctly replace their Incandescent Bulb with LED bulbs. 

Now, one of the major thing to consider is the LUMENS of the bulb. Lumens is a measure of how much light you are getting form a light source(bulb)  the more Lumens you have the more lights you get. Below is a guide from American Lighting Association.

• To replace a 100-watt incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens.
• To replace a 75-watt incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 1100 lumens.
• To replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 800 lumens.
• To replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 450 lumens.

Hope this article is useful to you. Please don't forget to drop your questions or comments.

And what is Incandescent Bulb?

Someone asked me; What is Incandescent bulb? And why should I discard it?

If this question is also in your mind, then you have nothing to worry about because am here to give you the answer without trying to confuse your with too many technical terms.

What is Incandescent Bulb?

They are bulbs that produces light  when a filament (wire) is heated at a very high temperature in a glass enclosure containing some gas. Thomas Edison is believed to be the Inventor(even though some other people worked on it before him) in the 19th century. They produce warm coloured light(that is amber/yellow).They are very common and are easily available.

Why should I discard it?

Incandescent bulbs waste a lot of energy. About 90% of their rated power are wasted as heat. When you bought the bulb, it was primarily for the light , but this bulb will "give you more" than you paid for....lots of heat. Even though their initial cost is very low, their running cost are pretty high.

Consider a bulb rated 100 watts (please note that this figure is not about the amount of light it produces but the energy it consumes). 100 watts on it is the power consumption.. However this bulb uses about 90 watts to produce heat(which most times you don't need), that is 90%. That is why they are very hot the heat takes a lot of energy  and a lot of money from your pocket. It even makes your Air Conditioner to work extra hard, thus increasing your bills.
For more questions and contributions, send me an email or please drop it as a comment.

Get LED Bulb

Why are you complaining that your Energy bills are very high? Most times you have made the wrong choice. you have chosen what looks cheap on the surface but expensive to run. Incandescent bulbs contribute to over 80% of your bills. They may be cheap but the will later drain your pocket.
Go for LED bulbs. They are super energy efficient, durable and bright. They are more expensive to buy but are very pocket friendly to have. You save about 90% on your bills, and they will last for many years
Expect more information and details soon.

Gloryland partners with Doyen Limited to setup LED factory

Nigeria is catching up with the international community. More companies are expressing interest in Establishing LED bulb factory in Nigeria. Take some time to read the excerpts from Vanguard newspaper(Clara Nwachukwu)

Gloryland IM Limited, the sole representatives of Dyode Limited, said it plans to set up a N500million factory that will be producing LED lamps in Nigeria. The lamps are currently being produced outside the country.

An LED lamp (or LED light bulb) is defined as a solid-state lamp that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the source of light. Such lamps also offer long service life and high energy efficiency, but are usually more expensive than the fluorescent and incandescent lamps in use in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the company, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos recently, said the factory which is expected to be completed within two years, between 2013 and 2015 will also create about 450 new jobs.

He said, “The N500million is only for the first phase of the factory, and it will employ about 450 technical staff, which will be increased to 1,000 within one year of becoming operational. When it resumes manufacturing fully, we will need about 5,000 direct workers and this will lead to a multiplier effect in terms of suppliers and other services required.” He added that some of the components for the lamps can be sourced locally.

Ohuabunwa further disclosed that the factory will be located between Lagos and Ogun states, adding that the management was currently in the process of delineating the market before the factory takes off.

Wealth preservation, 91% tariff slash

Expatiating more on the Led lamps, the Managing Director of Gloryland, Mr. Mike Adegun, who is also the Chairman of the China-based, Dyode Limited, a firm established by Nigerians in diaspora to manufacture the WonDDalite LED lamps, said the use of the lamps is Nigeria’s answer to wealth and energy conservation.

He argued that the country stands to save about $548billion if at least 10 million of the 60-watt incandescent lamps, ICLs, are exchanged for the LED lamps. He added that not only do the LED lamps have a 15-year life span, they can also effectively reduce electricity consumption tariff by 91 percent.

By his calculations, the exchange of 10 million 60-watt incandescent lamps of 600 mega watts, MW of power for 10 million 5.2 watt LED lamps will save up to 548MW of power, as only 52MW will be utilised, thereby diverting the preserved energy for industrial use.

According to him, “548MW is more than the power generated by the Kainji Power Plant, and more than double the capacity of the Sapele Power Plant.”

Citing the example Ghana, he said that without expanding generation capacity, the Ghanaian Government, being the first African country to undertake such a measure was able to save 1,200MW daily or from the exchange of six million ICLs for compact fluorescent lamps, CFL.

“The interim report of the Government shows that by applying this measure, Ghana saved $3.3million per month and $39.5million per year (assuming an oil price of $120/barrel),” he said.

Health and environment safety

Adegun also noted, the LED lamps part from being more energy efficient with 5.2watt output compared with the 60 watts of incandescent bulbs and the 13 watts of the compact fluorescent lamps, CFL, are also more eco-friendly. The LED lamps do not emit heat unlike the ICLs which emit 95 percent heat and carbondioxide, C02; they also do not contain mercury which is poisonous to the body like the ICLs.

For instance, he quoted the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, as saying that with the exchange of the six million ICLs, Ghana “is also saving 105,000 tonnes of C02 every year.” The country is now in the process of also phasing out the CFLs for LED lamps.

In view of the dangers associated with the ICLs and CFLs, he observed that the use of such lamps is being phased out in the developed countries as well as some African countries.

In the case of the United States, U.S. the Gloryland chief executive noted that the use of both the ICLs and CFLs has been banned. In particular, he said that statistics showed up to 18 percent amputation of cuts sustained from ICLs due to the mercury content. “In the U.S. there is law that when an incandescent lamp breaks, residents should phone 911 to come and pack the debris, and the vacuum used in cleaning the room should not be used for another room,” he added.

Furthermore, to encourage the mass production of the LED lamps as well as reduce costs, he said the US Government gave Phillips about $10million to provide the LED lamps.

He noted that although the Nigerian Government has publicly announced the adoption of the use of the LED lamps, nothing is being done to discourage the continued importation of the ICLs and CFLs into the country.

Government, through the Ministry of Power promised that it will give out the LED bulbs for free, following the introduction of the new tariff regime under the Multi Year Tariff Order, MYTO 2, but nothing has become of that promise due to issues associated with the contractors and the supplies

Omatek to build Solar panel and LED bulb factory

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki

An indigenous Nigerian firm, Omatek Computers, has concluded plans to build a multi-billion naira solar panel, LED bulb and lightings factory in the country.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, in a statement said the decision to build the factory was aimed at consolidating the company’s presence in the country.

She said, “Our new factory, which will take off immediately, will include the new solar panel and LED bulb and lighting factories. Our 24-hour solar/inverter/battery hybrid solution is a great innovation and is pioneered by Omatek and the first of its kind in Africa. This, by itself, is major income revenue to providing 24-hour light and power to homes, offices, schools, hospitals and hotels among others.

Nigeria is a good place to invest in, considering the population of over 170 million people. 

Nigerian Government embraces LED Bulb

Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan formally launched the energy saving bulb, he said this would reduce the cost of energy.

He reiterated that it should not be misinterpreted that government cannot give Nigerians light,that is why he is launching the bulb.

“Even if we have abundant power we need it. Other countries have done it, the whole world is changing, they are phasing out the bulbs that emit so much heat to ones that save energy. It has nothing to do with our commitment to stabilise power in this country. We will continue to work hard to stabilise power”

He expressed displeasure on how Nigerians leave their bulbs without switching them off.

Minister of power, Barth Nnaji said the concept is to reduce electricity consumption,he said 60 watts bulb could be replaced by 10 watts bulb depending on the type of technology employed.

“it is a way to make more electricity available through saving and reduction in cost, because you are using 10 watts instead of 60 watts, you are in effect using just a small fraction of the power and it cost you much less in the end”.

He adds that the urban poor and rural dwellers are going to be paying less with the new tariff regime and this will further reduce their cost of electricity by this device.

However, he said the bulbs are in the market right now and government is partnering with companies manufacturing bulbs to start manufacturing LED bulbs.

Comparing LED, CFL and Incandescent Bulbs

This comparison is for a 60watts incandescent bulb and its equivalent for the LED and CFl in terms of  light production	LED(Light Emitting Diode) bulbs	Incandescent bulb	CFL(Compact Fluorescent )bulb
Average Life span	50,000hours	1,200hours	10,000hours
Average power equivalent	6 – 8 watts	60watts	20 watts
Initial cost	NGN800($5)	NGN50(Less than $1)	NGN350 ($2.50)
Annual operating cost per year(for 12hours average daily usage )	NGN420 (about $1.3)	NGN3,154($20)	NGN 1,450 ($9.0)