“Bright white light at a fraction of the cost of regular light bulbs.” That is the promise of the latest lighting fad. LED (stands for Light Emitting Diode) is the newest kind of lighting to hit the consumer market. You see them all over the place now: flashlights, car taillights, desk lamps, cell phones, emergency lights are just a few of the applications for this promising new technology. The most exciting thing about LED lighting is the large amount of light produced with so little power input. In some cases lumens per watt is 1/10 that of a regular light bulb.
I just attended a seminar sponsored by PG&E about LED lighting. The speaker was a Lighting Consultant, Stan Walerczyk of Lightingwizards.com. He did a good job of conveying the complexity of lighting design and addressing the issue of weather LED is the panacea that the marketers say it is.
In a regular light bulb the light comes from a wire heated up till it glows by applying an electric current. In a LED, the light comes from a semi-conducting chip that emits photons when an electric current is applied. Though LEDs produce more light per watt of electricity than a regular bulb, they also produce heat. As in all semiconductors, the efficiency goes down as the heat goes up. This makes the design of LED fixture challenging. There are a few good designs out there for LEDs and more coming along all the time.
The technology is advancing very quickly and I am excited about working it into my designs to save our clients money. If we use less energy to light the night we can design smaller solar photovoltaic systems. This will save more money and make solar all the more affordable.
I expect LED lighting to make great inroads into the green building tool kit for those that are concerned with helping mitigate global warming. I also hope this has piqued your interest in this innovation and you will see how you can fit this energy saving technology into your life.
Here are some other sources of info on this subject:
If you would like advice on how to integrate this exciting new lighting into your next home construction project, as always, don’t hesitate to call me.
Thanks for reading!
