Back in 1907, British radio researcher and electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi, together with his assistant, Engineer Henry Joseph Round, discovered electroluminescence – a phenomenon which the LED lighting technology was built upon. Several decades later, Nick Holonyack, a North American engineer hired as a consultant for General Electric Company innovated the first visible-light LED.
Light Emitting Diode, or also known as LED, is a semiconductor diode that produces a glow when any amount of voltage transmits through. Holonyack’s invention in 1962 was a red LED made out of gallium arsenide phosphide as the diode substrate. From the moment he announced to the world that LED lights can potentially replace Thomas Edison’s incandescent bulbs, LED Lighting has grown enormously popular not just among residential and commercial markets but also for industrial facilities. At present, LED is utilized everywhere in digital TV monitors, other electronic devices and appliances, and mostly in various types of lighting.
LED Lighting – How They Work and Why They Have Taken the World by Storm
While incandescent bulbs emit light and glow up only when the filament inside the glass bulb is heated, LEDs emit glow as a result of electroluminescence or how a material glows up when electricity is applied. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LED bulbs do not have a filament. The illumination is rather facilitated by electrons moving in a semiconductor material which usually contains aluminum-gallium-arsenide content.
Most commercial & residential property are opting to go with LED and below are the top reasons why:
#1: In terms of efficiency and longevity, LED is far ahead of the game.
In contrast to traditional lightings such as incandescent and fluorescent lights, LEDs are powerfully filled with adequate energy, i.e. 95% of the energy they bear is converted into light and only 5% is drawn as heat. This facilitates the reduction of energy consumption at up to 90%, causing a dramatic decrease in the electric bill. Got a busted 84-watt fluorescent at home? You can replace that with a 36-watt LED bulb and get the same level of light.
When it comes to longevity, incandescent bulbs have a lifespan of around 1,500 hours of usage, and thus require frequent replacement. High quality LED bulbs, on the other hand, can serve their purpose up to 60,000 hours. That is up to seven years of constant use before replacement is necessary.
#2: LED lights are quality and beauty combined.
LED bulbs make use of a tiny semiconductor material rather than a filament, which makes their build way sturdier than of the traditional lights. But aside from that enhanced quality, they also have the edge in terms of beauty as LED lights come in a number of base colors like amber, blue, and red.
#3: LED lights are recyclable and eco-friendly.
Non-toxic materials are what makeup LEDs whereas fluorescent lights use mercury which is a threat to the environment. Meanwhile, their long life spans also help in reducing the amount of environmental carbon emissions, unlike compact fluorescent lights that can easily get busted.
Although CFLs or compact fluorescent lamps run close to LED lights in terms of efficiency, the EPA or Environmental Protection Agency does not recommend using them because of their toxic mercury content. Those who wish to dispose of their CFLs, as per EPA, must follow proper waste disposal, that is submitting them to designated recycling centers. Meanwhile, some states in the United States already have penalty implications for people who do not follow proper CFL bulb disposal.
#4. LED lights are safe to use.
While the majority of LED lovers choose LED over other lightings because of its cost-efficiency and durability, as per LED manufacturers, customer retention has been consistently high also because LED bulbs are practically safe to use, both in terms of content and built. Besides LED’s absence of toxic components that are also a hazard to health, LED lamps also emit minimal heat. LED only produces 3.4 btu (British Thermal Unit) per hour while incandescent bulbs yield 85 btu hourly. Thus, LED lights can be left on for hours and then touched without any safety dangers like fires or burns.
Deciding to switch to LED lights is like getting access to the abovementioned gains effortlessly. However, just a friendly reminder from ElectriCall: As such a switch most likely necessitates an electrical wirework, the safest way to do it is to not do the work on your own at all. Instead, search for any “lighting installation services near me” or give us a call and have our CO electrician take care of the job.
We’ve got the knowledge, skills, and experience to carry it out; testimonies from our highly satisfied customers can attest. We have been one of the best electrician companies in Arvada for a reason. Call us at 720-879-2253 for lighting design and installation.
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