LED Lighting is one of the most popular forms of residential and commercial lighting in the market today. It has many advantages associated with it, which contributes to its growing popularity. Compared to the conventional incandescent lighting, LED lighting is far brighter, and the LED bulbs used have a longer life. LED lighting is also environment-friendly form of lighting as it emits less amount of carbon-dioxide than traditional bulb lighting.
LED lighting is being increasingly preferred for a variety of purposes, including home lighting, office lighting, vehicle lighting, landscape lighting, and public safety lighting. The LED technology is being increasely used in flashlights, lanterns, head lamps, and book lights. These small LED lights have become an integral part of our lifestyle that we have begun to use them without being of it. For example, indicators on appliances such as coffee makers that convey to the users that the appliance is ready to be used are LED lights. Small lights on cell phones indicating active power are LED lights.
LED is an abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode, which is a semiconductor that converts electricity into light. LED lights do not require a filament as conventional bulbs do to generate light. LED lights have diodes as their sources of power. Each diode has a diameter of about 1 / 4th inch and consumes about ten milliamps of current to give out light at about 1 / 10th of a watt.
These diodes are well-protected by plastic bulbs that contain them. LED lights operate on power generated by the motion of electrons, and emit white light. Despite their smallness in size, LED lights work wonders when used in combination, for high-intensity applications.
LED lights are available in various efficiencies. LED lights for residential purposes are about 20 lumens / watt. However; with latest advances, LED lights with capacities as much as 160 lumens / watt are also being developed. It is not harsh; they emit soft lights. The less intensity of brightness is due to the usage of sodium lamps of low pressure.
Capabilities of LED lighting are many. One is the unidirectional illumination LED lighting enables. This property of LEDs makes them very useful for various applications where light needs to be focused in a single direction. They are more durable than conventional light bulbs as they are resistant to impact by thermal influences and vibrations.
There are no UV rays or Infrared rays resulting from LED lighting. This makes them ideal for outdoor lighting as UV rays attract bugs. There is no mercury in LEDs; so, it does not get hot on usage. LED lighting does not disrupt radio or TV signals as there is no ballast in an LED. But it should be noted that they are heat-sensitive; exposure to surplus heat can damage not only the quality of light emitted but also the lifetime of the light.
Owing to its numerous advantages, the application of LED lighting has increased dramatically. It can be used for focused lighting in dark interior areas such as cupboards, areas under kitchen cabinets, garage interiors, and overhead lighting. It is extensively used for lighting walkways, art lighting, landscape lighting, lighting reading areas, and night lighting.
