Table of Contents
According to research, the running cost of fixed lighting in a typical home in the UK accounts for around 15% of the total energy consumption.
Their dependence on grid electricity doesn’t just raise concerns when it comes to energy efficiency but also for addressing carbon emissions and has become a significant consideration for the Government.
The Government has passed several legislations and standards that has shifted the use from standard bulbs to LED lighting in both new and existing homes.
Initially, Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and halogen incandescent lamps were the lighting of choice for most homes across the country as an alternative to traditional tungsten incandescent bulbs, which were phased out from 2009.
However, switching to LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology, which seems to truly revolutionise energy efficiency and carbon emissions, is a much better option, with most UK homeowners having already made the switch.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of LED lighting in homes and how to choose the best lighting for different parts of your home for maximum efficiency:
Before we move on to the pros and cons of using LED bulbs to light up your homes, you need to understand what they are and how they work.
LED technology has developed rapidly in recent years with LED bulbs being hailed as the future of home lighting.
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and is what is called solid-state lighting technology, or SSL, that emits light when current passes through a solid piece of matter, and in the case of a traditional LED, a semiconductor.
The “light-emitting” part in LED is pretty self-explanatory, but what is a diode? The diode is a semiconducting material that emits photons (light) through the principle of electroluminescence when the electric current passes through it.
A diode is made up of a positively and negatively charged component, where the positive component has openings for electrons and the negative component has free electrons floating around in it.
When power is applied, it activates the flow of electrons from the negative to the positive layer, creating light in the process.
Compared to traditional light bulbs, there are several benefits of using LED lights in your home. Here are the top advantages:
LED lights are the most efficient form of lighting used all over the world and, in today’s energy landscape, they the ideal option for preserving the planet’s non-renewable resources.
They save a lot in energy consumption, using around 80-90% less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulbs and approximately 60% less than fluorescent lighting.
As compared to other forms of lighting, much less energy is required to light an LED bulb. A 36-watt LED bulb could easily replace an 84-watt fluorescent bulb, which means lower energy bills and great savings.
Since LEDs use less energy, it would result in reduced power demand from the national grid, thus resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
If you replace a single 60-watt bulb with an LED, you can achieve a reduction of approximately 160kg of CO2 emissions every year. Replacing 10 traditional bulbs in your house with LED lights would result in a reduction of 1599kg CO2 emissions every year. Now imagine the huge amount of difference it would make if every home in the UK switched to LED bulbs!
In addition to that, LED lights contain no toxic components, unlike other lighting options that contain mercury that may cause serious contamination when disposed of.
The safe nature of LED lights not only makes them environment-friendly but also makes disposal much easier and cost-effective.
Frequently having to change lightbulbs can be quite a hassle, both in terms of effort and replacement costs, which is why people look for lighting options that are reliable and can be depended upon.
The lifespan and durability of LED lights is one pro that cannot be overlooked. As compared to other forms of lighting, LED bulbs have an exceptionally long lifespan.
They last 2 to 3 times longer than fluorescent bulbs and 50 times longer than a standard household incandescent bulb.
LED lights have an average lifespan of 50,000 to 100,000 hours and, upon reaching their maximum lifetime, they gradually lose their brightness instead of abruptly burning out.
They are also extremely durable and can withstand temperature fluctuations and shock much better than their counterparts, making them a great option for a wider scope of operations and industries.
Unlike a traditional bulb that operates by heating its filament to produce light, LED bulbs turn electromagnetic energy into light which allows them to operate at a much lower temperature.
LED bulbs convert 95% of the total energy into light and the remaining 5% into heat. With traditional fluorescent lighting, it is the other way around with only 5% converted into light and the remaining 95% converted into heat.
This makes LED bulbs much safer to use by reducing the risk of fires, which may sometimes be caused by the excessively high heat outputs in incandescent bulbs.
With the increase in demand, LED lighting has become the most common and popular lighting option in the market.
With that, it has become more accessible and easier to buy and is available in a wide variety of modern designs and fixtures.
Traditional bulbs require gels or filters to create a specific colour that can burn out or fade over time. On the other hand, with LEDs, it is the actual diode that is changed to achieve a certain colour or temperature, which retains the same shade until the end of its lifespan.
Turning on a light bulb and waiting for it to achieve its maximum brightness is not only a hassle but is also not very acceptable or practical in this fast-paced world.
Traditional bulbs that use a filament take a few moments to warm up, as opposed to LED lights that operate at full brightness the moment they are switched on.
This feature is extremely useful and beneficial when using lights for security purposes that need to be instantly lit up when they are turned on, or in the case of motion sensor lights when they need to be turned on the second any motion is detected.
LEDs can easily be dimmed to operate at virtually any percentage of their rated power; something that wasn’t available with traditional lighting technology.
They do require hardware specific to LED technology to achieve the dimming capability, but it is well worth the investment since operating LEDs at less than their full power not only makes them more efficient but also increases their total lifespan.
All good things come at a price and that is also true for LED lights. They are generally more expensive to buy than traditional bulbs such as CFLs and halogens, and although their price has gone down considerably over the years, it remains high for a few individuals.
The higher initial cost for LED lights, however, is largely offset by their long-term benefits and lower running cost.
The annual running cost of a typical 700+ lumen LED bulb is around £1.71, compared to £2.04 for CFLs, and £8.42 for halogen bulbs, making LED bulbs the clear winner when it comes to long-term savings and energy efficiency.
As is apparent, the pros of LED lighting far outweigh its cons, making LED lights an excellent long-term investment for all your home lighting needs.
To ensure maximum effectiveness, there are a few factors that you need to consider before choosing the best LED lights for your home. They include:
Choosing a bulb with the right size and fitting is the most basic aspect to get right when making the decision.
Luckily, LED bulbs are very easy to shop in this regard and can easily be retrofitted to existing light fixtures. You only have to make sure that you pick the correct cap type.
Previously, the brightness of a bulb was measured in Watts, which is a measure of power. However, ever since the advent of energy-efficient lights that use much less power to produce the same amount of light, Watts were replaced with lumens.
The higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light is produced. To get a rough idea, 1500 to 3000 lumens might be required for an average-sized living room, whereas 400 lumens would be suitable for a table lamp.
Another thing to consider is the amount of light that is cast on a surface, which is measured in lux, and which is an important factor when choosing the right lighting for your home. Lux and lumens must not be confused together and both are not interchangeable.
The colour of a light is measured in Kelvins and is a huge deciding factor when choosing the right LED bulb for your home. Imagine wanting a nice and warm ambience for your living room only to find that the bulb you purchased gives off a stark white or blueish light, akin to a hospital hallway.
The colour of the light is determined by its temperature on the Kelvin scale ranging from 2000K-6500K, with lower numbers meaning a warmer light and higher numbers meaning a cooler one.
Most LED bulbs are directional and concentrate most of their light output within a specific angle. The beam angle is an important characteristic that applies to directional bulbs, particularly for downlighting.
The beam angle denotes the width of the light beam that the bulb casts. A lower beam angle of 20° would be very narrow and perfect for highlighting specific objects in the room, whereas a higher beam angle of 120° would cover a wide area and be perfect for larger areas and corridors.
While the layout and lighting of your house come down to your personal preferences, here are a few tips that can help you make the most out of your LED lighting and accentuate every area of your house.
The first step is to decide the mood and overall look you wish to go with, and then select what type of LED lights will best complement the design of your home and the specific areas.
There are three levels of lighting used to create different moods and effects for different situations, and they are:
External lighting is extremely crucial since it not only contributes to making a good first impression but is also extremely important security-wise.
LED products are ideal for lighting up the external areas of your house, including the front and back doors, garden, and shed, since they are reliable, durable, and light up almost instantly.
For hallways inside the house, a lux level between 100-150 is recommended at floor level, with downlighting being the most appropriate solution. LED lights can play an integral part in energy conservation here since hallway lights are almost always left on.
For the stairs and landings, adequate lighting must be provided, with a lux level of at least 100, and positioned in a way to easily distinguish between treads and risers. Also, to minimise the risk of accidents, light switches must be placed on both the top and bottom of the stairs.
For the living room, you must go for a more relaxed atmosphere, with flexibility and control to change the brightness of the LED lights according to the mood and time using dimmers.
Since dining tables are used for a variety of purposes including eating and doing homework, the lighting must be used to create different moods and provide comfortable indirect lighting.
Kitchens require high levels of lighting since they are used to carry out a wide variety of detailed tasks such as cooking and cutting.
For bedrooms, you should make use of general and task lighting to light up the entire area and also provide adequate lighting for specific purposes such as reading. Make sure you choose LED lights with a good CRI (Colour Rendering Index) for being able to clearly distinguish between certain colours such as when choosing your clothes.
Although bathroom lighting is used for short periods, it is important nonetheless. LED lights may be placed in specific areas such as above the mirror to provide adequate lighting while washing your face or applying makeup. You just need to make sure that the switches and fittings are placed away from a water source.
Efficient home lighting is a great way to reduce your energy consumption to save money on your bills and reduce your carbon footprint.
We, at Calder Electrical, provide an easy and effective way of achieving this by both upgrading to and installing new LED lighting.
We can offer fittings with 3 to 5+ year warranties that will not only reduce energy costs but also make your homes brighter. We can also provide a forecasted energy calculation so you can see what your energy bills and savings will look like.
We can survey your home and create a lighting design to see if we can not only reduce the number of light fittings but also make the area reach a lighting level suitable for use.
We can also incorporate motion detectors so that lighting in areas that are low usage is only switched on when someone enters them.
We can give you an energy calculation to show your current lighting costs and the estimated costs by upgrading to LED lighting so that you can see how much you will save, normally aiming for a 40% saving.
If you are undertaking a new installation, we can help you create a lighting design suitable for the house layout and intended usage.
We provide a high and efficient level of LED installation services guaranteed to meet the current wiring regulations BS7671.
Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 3001 to talk to our LED lighting experts right away!
Photo by Angeles Pérez on Unsplash
According to research, the running cost of fixed lighting in a typical home in the UK accounts for around 15% of the total energy consumption.
Their dependence on grid electricity doesn’t just raise concerns when it comes to energy efficiency but also for addressing carbon emissions and has become a significant consideration for the Government.
The Government has passed several legislations and standards that has shifted the use from standard bulbs to LED lighting in both new and existing homes.
Initially, Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and halogen incandescent lamps were the lighting of choice for most homes across the country as an alternative to traditional tungsten incandescent bulbs, which were phased out from 2009.
However, switching to LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology, which seems to truly revolutionise energy efficiency and carbon emissions, is a much better option, with most UK homeowners having already made the switch.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of LED lighting in homes and how to choose the best lighting for different parts of your home for maximum efficiency:
Before we move on to the pros and cons of using LED bulbs to light up your homes, you need to understand what they are and how they work.
LED technology has developed rapidly in recent years with LED bulbs being hailed as the future of home lighting.
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and is what is called solid-state lighting technology, or SSL, that emits light when current passes through a solid piece of matter, and in the case of a traditional LED, a semiconductor.
The “light-emitting” part in LED is pretty self-explanatory, but what is a diode? The diode is a semiconducting material that emits photons (light) through the principle of electroluminescence when the electric current passes through it.
A diode is made up of a positively and negatively charged component, where the positive component has openings for electrons and the negative component has free electrons floating around in it.
When power is applied, it activates the flow of electrons from the negative to the positive layer, creating light in the process.
Compared to traditional light bulbs, there are several benefits of using LED lights in your home. Here are the top advantages:
LED lights are the most efficient form of lighting used all over the world and, in today’s energy landscape, they the ideal option for preserving the planet’s non-renewable resources.
They save a lot in energy consumption, using around 80-90% less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulbs and approximately 60% less than fluorescent lighting.
As compared to other forms of lighting, much less energy is required to light an LED bulb. A 36-watt LED bulb could easily replace an 84-watt fluorescent bulb, which means lower energy bills and great savings.
Since LEDs use less energy, it would result in reduced power demand from the national grid, thus resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
If you replace a single 60-watt bulb with an LED, you can achieve a reduction of approximately 160kg of CO2 emissions every year. Replacing 10 traditional bulbs in your house with LED lights would result in a reduction of 1599kg CO2 emissions every year. Now imagine the huge amount of difference it would make if every home in the UK switched to LED bulbs!
In addition to that, LED lights contain no toxic components, unlike other lighting options that contain mercury that may cause serious contamination when disposed of.
The safe nature of LED lights not only makes them environment-friendly but also makes disposal much easier and cost-effective.
Frequently having to change lightbulbs can be quite a hassle, both in terms of effort and replacement costs, which is why people look for lighting options that are reliable and can be depended upon.
The lifespan and durability of LED lights is one pro that cannot be overlooked. As compared to other forms of lighting, LED bulbs have an exceptionally long lifespan.
They last 2 to 3 times longer than fluorescent bulbs and 50 times longer than a standard household incandescent bulb.
LED lights have an average lifespan of 50,000 to 100,000 hours and, upon reaching their maximum lifetime, they gradually lose their brightness instead of abruptly burning out.
They are also extremely durable and can withstand temperature fluctuations and shock much better than their counterparts, making them a great option for a wider scope of operations and industries.
Unlike a traditional bulb that operates by heating its filament to produce light, LED bulbs turn electromagnetic energy into light which allows them to operate at a much lower temperature.
LED bulbs convert 95% of the total energy into light and the remaining 5% into heat. With traditional fluorescent lighting, it is the other way around with only 5% converted into light and the remaining 95% converted into heat.
This makes LED bulbs much safer to use by reducing the risk of fires, which may sometimes be caused by the excessively high heat outputs in incandescent bulbs.
With the increase in demand, LED lighting has become the most common and popular lighting option in the market.
With that, it has become more accessible and easier to buy and is available in a wide variety of modern designs and fixtures.
Traditional bulbs require gels or filters to create a specific colour that can burn out or fade over time. On the other hand, with LEDs, it is the actual diode that is changed to achieve a certain colour or temperature, which retains the same shade until the end of its lifespan.
Turning on a light bulb and waiting for it to achieve its maximum brightness is not only a hassle but is also not very acceptable or practical in this fast-paced world.
Traditional bulbs that use a filament take a few moments to warm up, as opposed to LED lights that operate at full brightness the moment they are switched on.
This feature is extremely useful and beneficial when using lights for security purposes that need to be instantly lit up when they are turned on, or in the case of motion sensor lights when they need to be turned on the second any motion is detected.
LEDs can easily be dimmed to operate at virtually any percentage of their rated power; something that wasn’t available with traditional lighting technology.
They do require hardware specific to LED technology to achieve the dimming capability, but it is well worth the investment since operating LEDs at less than their full power not only makes them more efficient but also increases their total lifespan.
All good things come at a price and that is also true for LED lights. They are generally more expensive to buy than traditional bulbs such as CFLs and halogens, and although their price has gone down considerably over the years, it remains high for a few individuals.
The higher initial cost for LED lights, however, is largely offset by their long-term benefits and lower running cost.
The annual running cost of a typical 700+ lumen LED bulb is around £1.71, compared to £2.04 for CFLs, and £8.42 for halogen bulbs, making LED bulbs the clear winner when it comes to long-term savings and energy efficiency.
As is apparent, the pros of LED lighting far outweigh its cons, making LED lights an excellent long-term investment for all your home lighting needs.
To ensure maximum effectiveness, there are a few factors that you need to consider before choosing the best LED lights for your home. They include:
Choosing a bulb with the right size and fitting is the most basic aspect to get right when making the decision.
Luckily, LED bulbs are very easy to shop in this regard and can easily be retrofitted to existing light fixtures. You only have to make sure that you pick the correct cap type.
Previously, the brightness of a bulb was measured in Watts, which is a measure of power. However, ever since the advent of energy-efficient lights that use much less power to produce the same amount of light, Watts were replaced with lumens.
The higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light is produced. To get a rough idea, 1500 to 3000 lumens might be required for an average-sized living room, whereas 400 lumens would be suitable for a table lamp.
Another thing to consider is the amount of light that is cast on a surface, which is measured in lux, and which is an important factor when choosing the right lighting for your home. Lux and lumens must not be confused together and both are not interchangeable.
The colour of a light is measured in Kelvins and is a huge deciding factor when choosing the right LED bulb for your home. Imagine wanting a nice and warm ambience for your living room only to find that the bulb you purchased gives off a stark white or blueish light, akin to a hospital hallway.
The colour of the light is determined by its temperature on the Kelvin scale ranging from 2000K-6500K, with lower numbers meaning a warmer light and higher numbers meaning a cooler one.
Most LED bulbs are directional and concentrate most of their light output within a specific angle. The beam angle is an important characteristic that applies to directional bulbs, particularly for downlighting.
The beam angle denotes the width of the light beam that the bulb casts. A lower beam angle of 20° would be very narrow and perfect for highlighting specific objects in the room, whereas a higher beam angle of 120° would cover a wide area and be perfect for larger areas and corridors.
While the layout and lighting of your house come down to your personal preferences, here are a few tips that can help you make the most out of your LED lighting and accentuate every area of your house.
The first step is to decide the mood and overall look you wish to go with, and then select what type of LED lights will best complement the design of your home and the specific areas.
There are three levels of lighting used to create different moods and effects for different situations, and they are:
External lighting is extremely crucial since it not only contributes to making a good first impression but is also extremely important security-wise.
LED products are ideal for lighting up the external areas of your house, including the front and back doors, garden, and shed, since they are reliable, durable, and light up almost instantly.
For hallways inside the house, a lux level between 100-150 is recommended at floor level, with downlighting being the most appropriate solution. LED lights can play an integral part in energy conservation here since hallway lights are almost always left on.
For the stairs and landings, adequate lighting must be provided, with a lux level of at least 100, and positioned in a way to easily distinguish between treads and risers. Also, to minimise the risk of accidents, light switches must be placed on both the top and bottom of the stairs.
For the living room, you must go for a more relaxed atmosphere, with flexibility and control to change the brightness of the LED lights according to the mood and time using dimmers.
Since dining tables are used for a variety of purposes including eating and doing homework, the lighting must be used to create different moods and provide comfortable indirect lighting.
Kitchens require high levels of lighting since they are used to carry out a wide variety of detailed tasks such as cooking and cutting.
For bedrooms, you should make use of general and task lighting to light up the entire area and also provide adequate lighting for specific purposes such as reading. Make sure you choose LED lights with a good CRI (Colour Rendering Index) for being able to clearly distinguish between certain colours such as when choosing your clothes.
Although bathroom lighting is used for short periods, it is important nonetheless. LED lights may be placed in specific areas such as above the mirror to provide adequate lighting while washing your face or applying makeup. You just need to make sure that the switches and fittings are placed away from a water source.
Efficient home lighting is a great way to reduce your energy consumption to save money on your bills and reduce your carbon footprint.
We, at Calder Electrical, provide an easy and effective way of achieving this by both upgrading to and installing new LED lighting.
We can offer fittings with 3 to 5+ year warranties that will not only reduce energy costs but also make your homes brighter. We can also provide a forecasted energy calculation so you can see what your energy bills and savings will look like.
We can survey your home and create a lighting design to see if we can not only reduce the number of light fittings but also make the area reach a lighting level suitable for use.
We can also incorporate motion detectors so that lighting in areas that are low usage is only switched on when someone enters them.
We can give you an energy calculation to show your current lighting costs and the estimated costs by upgrading to LED lighting so that you can see how much you will save, normally aiming for a 40% saving.
If you are undertaking a new installation, we can help you create a lighting design suitable for the house layout and intended usage.
We provide a high and efficient level of LED installation services guaranteed to meet the current wiring regulations BS7671.
Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 3001 to talk to our LED lighting experts right away!
Photo by Angeles Pérez on Unsplash
