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..

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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.
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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.