Lighting constitutes over 20% of electricity and 8% of the total energy consumed by the 50 states that constitute the United States of America.
Making our footing on this report by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), we at LEDMyPlace decided to help and inspire everyone to make a move towards- LED Lighting-a newer energy-saving technology.
With this blog, we wish to introduce you to the third revolution in lighting- LED lighting technology- that has so far been used as a backlight technology in gadgets’ screens.
How Can This Blog Help You?
While we are in the LED business since the year 2009 now, we have been feeling intrigued by how a majority of the people are still clueless about the huge amount of money they are wasting on monthly energy-bills and how the old fixtures are only increasing the carbon footprint on Earth.
We then listed the issues down and will now proceed with regular blog-posts on the topics that you should be aware of, some of which are:
- Understanding Watts, Lumens, and Kelvin
- Understanding the potential of LED lights
- Understanding the pricing of LED lights
- Understanding the Rebate-system you avail with LED lights
- Understanding generally faced problems in the context of LED lights
- Understanding Watts, Lumens, and Kelvin
Even after years of the inception of LEDs, our novice customers- who are in the process of upgrading- still get confused between Watts, Lumens, and Kelvin when they go through the Product Specs on our page.
In simple words, a better clarity with these 3 terms can significantly help customers choose the right LED Tube Lights with self-help.
Correlated Color Temperature - CCT (Kelvin): A Scale for the color of light. A lower the Kelvin, the warmer the light gets (yellowish) and higher Kelvin makes the light cooler (Blue).
Lumens: A unit used to measure the Light’s brightness. The more the lumens the brighter the light gets.
Wattage: The amount of energy consumed by a lighting fixture.
Understanding the Potential
You’d be amazed to know the potential SSL (Solid State Lighting) - White LEDs- have over incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs.
As per the data generated by NIST, in stark comparison to an Incandescent bulbs’ capacity of 10-15 lumens/watt light-brightness generation, LED bulbs have the potential to reach 250 lumens/watt (where Lumens is the measure of the brightness of light).
Understanding the Pricing
While many of us have been complaining since ever about the higher cost of LED luminaires, we fail to notice that it is comparatively a recent technology, and there are significant benefits.
This image pretty much explains why LEDs cost a bit higher initially. As you keep on using them for some time, the ROI starts to flow.
Another factor which contributes to the higher initial costs of LED lamps is that manufacturing is still not taken out on a large scale. When they first started coming out for commercial use in markets, the prices were way high than they are today.
This bar-graph here- talking about the fall in prices from $160/ 1000lm in the year 2008 to $16/ 1000lm in the year 2013- sends hope that soon we won’t have to worry about initial higher costs of LED lamps:
Understanding the Rebate-system
Since LEDs are a sustainable energy solution, the US government also provides rebates on certain products- the condition here being the products should be certified by authorities like DLC and Energy Star for better performance and general safety.
In our numerous years of business, we have come across many people who are pretty negligent on the rebate part. Our focus is on informing you about the rebate program so you know that what you invest will soon be credited back in your bank account. Understanding Generally Faced Problems.
LED manufacturing units are spreading like dandelions. While this is a good thing when you think about technology updation, the problem arises because not all manufacturers are versed with the inside-out of the technology.
To cut the initial costs, they use low-quality products and sometimes may also come up with inaccurate performance claims.
In the blog-posts, we will ensure you get enough info on how to ensure the certifications listed on the LED products are for real.
Conclusion
While this is just a bird’s eye view of LED basics, we will publish regular posts for you to understand each of these aspects in detail along with practical blog-posts that would help you with lighting solutions and installation ideas for residential lighting as well as commercial lighting.
As technology is updating itself by the second, you will always see this space changing too- evolving into something better with every step. One thing which would remain the same is the motivation and interest the blog will generate in you at every step.
Welcome to the blog, our soon-to-be lighting-expert!